Morning Sixers: June 29th, 2022

Keith Pompey reiterated once again that the expectation is the Sixers will sign P.J. Tucker to a three-year, $30 million deal.

P.J. Tucker is expected to join the Sixers. Here’s how they can absorb his salary

The veteran power forward is likely to reunite with former Rockets teammate James Harden. Multiple league sources say Tucker will sign a three-year, $30 million deal in Philly.

The Philadelphia InquirerKeith Pompey

Key details:

• Keith reports that Tucker will choose the  Sixers' three-year, $30 million offer over offers from the Heat and Bucks.
• The contract, per Pompey, has $27 million of the $30 million in guaranteed money.
• Keith also reports that Harden will opt into his player option for 2022-23 ($47.4 million), then sign a two-year extension (for less than the max) after that.

Related to this: Ira Winderman, Miami Heat reporter for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, reports that the Heat have been unwilling to use the non-taxpayer mid-level on Tucker, for the reason we've been discussing here for weeks: they don't want to trigger the hard cap. Instead, Miami has been offering a contract based around Tucker's non-Bird rights, which can see a starting salary at up to 120% of his previous year's salary (which comes out to $8.4 million), and maxes out at three-years, $27 million.