The Philadelphia 76ers did not have many resources available to make additions to their roster around Joel Embiid and James Harden, but they made several moves thanks to Harden not exercising his $47.3 million player option.
The Beard opting out gave Philadelphia the financial flexibility to sign PJ Tucker and Danuel House Jr. in free agency, upgrading the roster. Both add toughness as well as legitimate 3-and-D options to help the team move forward. They also added De’Anthony Melton in a draft night trade.
The NBA is investigating the Sixers for tampering charges, but it doesn’t change the fact they made big moves to become a better team. The Athletic recognized this and gave Philadelphia a grade of A-minus for their offseason moves:
No, the Sixers didn’t make the splashiest moves this offseason. But they did as well as I could’ve imagined considering the limited resources available. James Harden took a major pay cut in 2022-23, and he is now reunited with both PJ Tucker and Danuel House Jr. because of it. The Sixers were also able to turn Danny Green’s contract and the No. 23 pick into De’Anthony Melton. All three acquisitions addressed their biggest roster issue: wing defense and depth. There might be more to come, and there’s still the question of whether it’s enough to get over the hump, but this has been a quietly rock-solid offseason in Philly.
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After this very solid offseason, the core of Embiid, Harden, Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris combined with the Tucker, House Jr. and Melton make this roster the deepest on paper during the Embiid era.
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