PHILADELPHIA — The NBA has opened an investigation into the 76ers for possible tampering in their free agency pursuits to re-sign James Harden and sign P.J. Tucker and Danuel House, a source confirmed to The Philadelphia Inquirer Friday night.
The Sixers had the cap space to sign Tucker to the full mid-level exception and House to the bi-annual exception because Harden declined his $47.4 million player option for the 2022-23 season and re-signed with a paycut of about $14 million for this season.
Harden’s new two-year deal also includes a player option for $35.6 million for the 2023-24 season. ESPN, which first reported the news, said that “there have been questions about whether there’s already a handshake agreement in place on a future contract [for Harden] — which would be in violation of collective bargaining rules.”
