P.J. Tucker signed a three-year cope with the Philadelphia 76ers firstly of free company final summer time, however he would have most well-liked to stay with the Miami Heat, the workforce he performed for final season.
“Honestly, I did not wish to depart,” Tucker stated of Miami, by way of the Miami Herald. “I expressed that I did not wish to depart. But their scenario and them not desirous to be hard-capped, I knew it was going to be a chance. My household continues to be there. So I clearly wished to be there, but it surely did not work out. … I assumed I used to be going to retire in Miami.”
For Tucker, the choice to signal with the Sixers in the end got here down to at least one factor: cash. He wished the complete mid-level exception, and the Sixers have been prepared to present it to him, whereas the Heat had reservations. Ultimately, Tucker signed a fully-guaranteed, three-year, $33 million cope with Philly.
“I wished the complete midlevel,” Tucker defined. “I assumed I deserved the complete midlevel and that was one thing that I wished. They knew that popping out of the gate. I expressed that I wished that from the start. I really feel like for what we did, for what we had, I really feel like I deserved that and it simply is what it’s.
“I feel they wished the negotiations to be just a little slower than it was,” he added. “Just due to the curiosity proper off the bat. Nobody thought I used to be going to get three years after which to get a number of gives for a full three years, I used to be prepared to maneuver and determine it out.”
Though he was dissatisfied with the way in which issues performed out, Tucker is not harboring any form of a grudge in opposition to Miami. Instead, he displays fondly on his time with the workforce.
“But I do not fault them in any respect,” Tucker stated. “I perceive they did not wish to be hard-capped and wished to have the ability to make strikes later with no matter they thought the workforce may have. … It was enjoyable. It’s simply a type of experiences I’ll bear in mind.”
Philadelphia’s curiosity in Tucker grew to become evident instantly after the Heat eradicated the Sixers within the Eastern Conference semifinals final spring. In the direct aftermath of the loss, Joel Embiid talked about Tucker by identify when discussing what Philadelphia lacked.
“You take a look at somebody like P.J. Tucker. Great participant, but it surely’s not about him pulling down photographs. It’s about what he does, whether or not it is on the defensive finish or rebounding the ball,” Embiid stated. “You take a look at, clearly, defensively, he performs with a lot power, believes that he can get from level A to level B, and he believes that nobody can beat him.
“And he is powerful. He’s simply bodily, and he is powerful. And they’ve a couple of of these guys, whether or not it is Bam and all these guys. And since I’ve been right here, I’d be mendacity if I stated that we have had these kinds of guys. Nothing in opposition to what we now have, it is simply the reality. We by no means had P.J. Tucker.”
Philadelphia’s entrance workplace heard Embiid loud and clear, as they went out and threw the proverbial bag on the veteran ahead. They may need been just a little too desirous to signal Tucker, in truth, because the group was in the end discovered responsible of tampering throughout their pursuit of Tucker and docked a second-round decide because of this.
At the tip of the day, you may’t blame Tucker for following the cash, however you can also’t blame followers in Philadelphia in the event that they really feel barely irritated by the truth that the workforce’s prime offseason addition would technically fairly be someplace else.
