Following an offseason that involved a plethora of roster-bolstering moves, the Philadelphia 76ers have themselves under investigation. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski recently reported the NBA league office is opening a tampering investigation regarding the signings of P.J. Tucker, Danuel House Jr., and James Harden.
This stems from Harden declining his $47 million player option to sign a two-year deal with the Sixers at a more team-friendly price tag. With the extra cap space, Daryl Morey was able to go out and sign the pair of veteran wings to multi-year deals.
As the investigation gets ready to begin, Doc Rivers recently opened up on the allegations with ESPN’s Vince Carter. It was there he revealed that Morey was unsure of what Harden was going to do hours before a final decision had to be made with his player option.
I can guarantee you Daryl had no idea what James what’s gonna do. I remember talking to him on the eve of when James could opt in or out and he’s like ‘we got five hours left.’ I mean, that was Daryl Morey, so that tells you he had no idea.
Sixers Land Near Top of Eastern Conference Power Rankings
After another postseason run ended in the second round, Daryl Morey quickly got to work making necessary adjustments to the roster. While most have gotten caught up on all the signings that happened recently, the team also improved on draft night when Danny Green was sent to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for combo-guard De’Anthony Melton.
As a new NBA season is close to getting underway, the people over at NBA.com recently put together a power rankings list for the Eastern Conference. The Sixers find themselves in the third spot, with the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics as the only teams ahead of them.
They probably gave Tucker too many years, but the Sixers have a ton of shooting around their stars. Melton (fourth in deflections per 36 minutes) and Tucker also upgrade the defense. The questions won’t be answered until Harden proves himself in the playoffs, but this team could be a regular season monster.
Along with their core of Harden, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Tobias Harris, the Sixers have a supporting cast littered with defense and shooting. All the pieces are in place for them to make a serious run at the NBA title in 2023.
Tyrese Maxey Cracks Top-Ten in Position Rankings
Last season, one of the biggest developments for the Sixers was the emergence of Tyrese Maxey. Despite not playing regularly as a rookie, the former first-round pick thrived in his first season as a full-time starter. Maxey appeared in 75 games last season and averaged 17.5 PPG, 3.2 RPG, and 4.3 APG.
Following his breakout year, Maxey finds himself in the top ten of HoopsHype’s rankings of top shooting guards in the NBA. The 21-year-old is slotted in the ninth spot between CJ McCollum and Desmond Bane.
The fact that in his age-21 campaign, Maxey was able to elevate his game from the regular season to the tune of 20.8 points and 3.9 assists over 12 games on 48.4 percent shooting (37.7 percent from deep) is extremely promising with regards to his future and speaks to his confidence as a player.
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Doc Rivers Responds to Sixers Tampering Allegations