In 13 seasons in Houston, Daryl Morey, president of Sixers basketball operations, has built a reputation as an aggressive executive.
It looks like his successor as Rockets general manager would also be happy to be seen.
“We are aggressive people and we will be aggressive” Rafael Stone told reporters Tuesday in Houston. “It doesn’t mean we can do something, it doesn’t mean it will happen. We will only do business that we believe is really good internally. But we’ll all call 5,000 times and see if there are different options that can be found and different ways to put the puzzle together. ”
It is reasonable to assume that the Sixers will also make and receive calls. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported Tuesday the team is “interested” in veteran Rockets shooting guard Eric Gordon.
“Keep an eye on the Houston Rockets,” Windhorst said. “They have already reached an agreement this off season. Look for an Eric Gordon lottery in the game. I’ve heard that a couple of interested teams are the Philadelphia 76ers and the Phoenix Suns. You have Chris Paul there looking for a reunion with his former teammate. Philadelphia (is) also for PJ Tucker, by the way – he just canceled his contract with the Miami Heat.
For now, the Rockets have third, 17th, and 26th picks in Thursday night’s NBA draft. The Sixers occupy 23rd place.
It’s Gordon, 33 is expected to earn around $ 19.6 million next season and has an unsecured salary of $ 20.9 million for 2023-24. Gordon shot 41.2 percent three-pointers last year, his best score since the 2014-15 season. His 123.5 points per 100 shot attempts was a career record and ranked in the 90th percentile among the wings, for clean the glass. Gordon has suffered groin injuries in the past two seasons and has only played 120 games since the start of the 2019-20 season.
Like Gordon, Tucker spent time with Morey and James Harden in Houston. As it turns out, the Sixers aren’t the only team to enjoy his game. Tucker’s decision to decline his $ 7.4 million player option was “100% expected.” This was reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press.
Before the low season 2020, Embiid told the Sixers front office that the team needed more takes. The Sixers added Seth Curry and Danny Green in nightly draft operations. Whether or not a Tucker pursuit of the Sixers is ultimately doable, it’s worth noting that Embiid called the 37-year-old after the team was knocked out of the Heat when he described his. Wish to have stronger and more physical players on the roster.
“Sure,” Embiid said. “We’ve had a couple of tough guys since I’ve been here that I can remember, whether it’s Mike Scott… he didn’t play many minutes. But if you have size and toughness, the road is long. You’re looking at someone like PJ Tucker – a great player, but it’s not about him throwing shots. He is about (the other things) that he does, both in defense and in the ball bounce. You look at him on the defensive, he plays with a lot of energy. He believes he can go from point A to point B and he believes no one can beat him.
“And it’s hard. It’s just physical and it’s tough. They have a lot of these guys, be Bam (Adebayo) and all these guys. And since I’m here, I’d be lying if I said we have guys like this. Nothing against what we have, it’s just the truth. We never have PJ Tucker; that’s just what I’m trying to say. So I think you need physicality, especially when you get to the playoffs or late rounds. You need these guys who are really tough ”.
