Sixers Second-Round Draft Picks Stripped

In the rush of Philadelphia sports success in the last two months, the Philadelphia 76ers have been an afterthought. To date, they are sitting at .500 with a lackluster start. Embiid has plantar fasciitis. Not exactly where we envisioned the Sixers to be at this point. News has come down that the Sixers will have their second-round draft picks in 2023 and 2024 stripped. All this to the alleged tampering during offseason free-agency moves.

Early Discussions

According to the league, the Sixers engaged in discussions involving free agents P.J. Tucker and Danuel House Jr. before the date when talks could begin. NBA Teams were not allowed to have any conversations with agents or players on free-agent contracts before 6 p.m. on June 30. The league confirmed the Sixers didn’t break any rules when they re-signed James Harden to a two-year, $68.6 million deal.

Tucker signed a $30 million three-year contract, and House signed for $8.4 million two-year contract. The Sixers were able to sign Tucker to the full mid-level exception and House to the bi-annual exception because James Harden declined his $47.4 million option and agreed to be paid about $14.5 million less. This allowed the 76ers flexibility in signing players.

The Future is Now for the 76ers

“The Philadelphia 76ers fully cooperated with the NBA’s investigation and acknowledge the league’s ruling.” “We’re moving forward, focused on the season ahead.”
The Philadelhia 76ers

The Sixers are hoping to make a run at the NBA title with a roster led by Joel Embiid and Harden. Tucker was brought in to be the defensive difference-maker the team lacked last season. This was directly requested by Joel Embiid himself after getting bounced by the Miami Heat in last year’s playoffs.

Losing two second-rounders isn’t a massive loss for the 76ers. Draft picks, especially those outside of the first round, have limited value to a team. It may hurt the aggressiveness of deals in the future, allowing the Sixers to avoid tampering again.

The NBA and NBPA are expected to revisit the rules that punish teams discovered to have had discussions with player agents on pending free agents ahead of free agency's official start, sources said. The practice is rampant, but hard to police and largely impossible to eliminate.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 31, 2022

Cherrypicking Offenses

Every NBA offseason, there is always a number of deals that get reported moments after the free-agent negotiating window opens. Yet finding evidence of tampering isn’t easy in many cases. The NBA approved stiffer penalties for tampering in 2019 and stripped a draft pick from the Chicago Bulls for early contact with Lonzo Ball and the Miami Heat for doing the same with Kyle Lowry in the summer of 2021. Other teams and players (Lebron..cough…cough) seem to always get away with many forms of tampering, but it seems the league has a problem finding the more blatant issues. I know the Sixers are only being stripped of 2 second-round draft picks but it just seems interesting the Sixers always seem to be in the crosshairs of the NBA and league commissioner, Adam Silver.

Al Zaffiri

Al is one of the two co-creators of Edge of Philly Sports. Al started radio and podcasting in 2012 and covering sports in 2015. A lifelong Philly sports fan since watching the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, and Flyers with his grandfathers at age 7. Al always looks at the other side of the hot topics and gives his different outlook on those topics. Web and Graphic Design.