According to foreign media, four days before the free agent market opened, many rival teams were already convinced that Tucker would sign with the 76ers on a three-year, US$33 million contract, and one minute after becoming a free agent, his The agent officially announced the news.
Why is Tucker so popular? Why do many players and teams condemn 76ers ? Are they afraid that Harden will show off his power after acquiring Tucker, or are the 76ers recruiting illegally? Some other issues have caused the NBA to take this matter very seriously. According to Stein, Philadelphia's deal with PJ-Tucker may be investigated by the league for suspected recruitment violations. If found to have violated the rules, the 76ers will face heavy fines, which will also bring variables to Harden's road to the championship.
Tucker is the toughest man in NBA. His style of play in the game is very exaggerated. On the defensive end, he is often responsible for guarding some top stars on the outside. When he was in Bucks , he defended very well. Durant helped the Bucks eliminate the Nets in the tiebreaker. He showed his worth in the first battle, allowing each team to once again see the value of Lao Jiang and the role of defensive giants in the game.
So in last year's offseason, the Heat hired him. Tucker averaged 7.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists in the regular season last season.
In the playoffs, Tucker represented the Heat and eventually eliminated Harden's 76ers. Unfortunately, he faced injuries in the Eastern Conference finals and limited playing time. In the end, the Heat lost to the Celtics . The two teams once reached a tiebreaker. If Tucker is healthy, there will definitely be more variables in the game.
's good performance has also made Tucker favored by more teams. But what is surprising is that there is almost no recruitment for him from other teams in the market, and only the parent team, the Heat, made a symbolic offer. One minute after becoming a free agent, Tucker quickly reached a three-year, $33 million contract with the 76ers.
At this time, the first thing to be questioned and denounced was the players. Some players stood up and accused Tucker of surrendering to the enemy.
Butler said, "I tried hard to persuade him to stay. I told him that if we fight for another year, we still have a high probability of winning the championship. I think that after Tucker leaves here to join the 76ers, we will be able to win the next championship." The season's combat effectiveness has been weakened. I don't want him to go to the 76ers, but he insists on leaving, so I will eliminate them again in the playoffs to prove his ability."
Harden heard this and added. The public opinion about Tucker continued to ferment, which made him very angry. During the interview, he also specifically supported Tucker. Harden said: "I think this is not fair to Tucker. No matter what others say, it's okay, but Tucker After defeating us on behalf of the Heat, how can I say that I have surrendered to the enemy now? The Heat will not cause any hindrance to me next season. We have always been committed to winning the championship.
With Harden's public statement, this is temporary. It came to an end, but he didn't know that there were more troublesome things waiting for him. After they signed Tucker, many team managers were full of doubts about the matter. They asked the NBA to investigate Tucker's signing. , they believe that the 76ers are a "repeat offender" and may have engaged in illegal recruitment.
For decades, the NBA has explicitly prohibited illegal recruitment under Articles 35 and 35A of the league's charter. Scouts or players cannot recruit players who are still under contract with other teams.
The reason for this is that illegal recruitment has become so rampant in the free market that many teams blatantly ignore the league's regulations. The undercurrent begins before the free market begins, and the negative effect this brings is the involution of "illegal recruitment".
If you want the team to gain something in the free market, you can only contact others as early as possible. One step will undoubtedly give you a big advantage.The NBA has long been aware of this problem. In 2019, they revised relevant regulations to resolutely crack down on illegal recruitment.
The first step they took was: heavy fines. Increase the amount of fines for teams and team executives from 5 million to 10 million. If fines are really imposed on individual executives, then 10 million is still a very deterrent figure.
also asked team executives to keep chat records when communicating with players' agents. For other forms of communication, specific content must also be retained for a period of one year.
will also be randomly reviewed. Five random teams are selected each year for review, and one team is selected to have access to all of its electronic communications records and to issue written certification.
At the same time, teams that recruit illegally will also be punished. The most common method is to deprive draft picks and send them to the victimized team. Free agent signings can be declared void. Players recruited in violation of regulations may be suspended.
If Tucker's illegal recruitment is confirmed, it is likely that the league will deprive the 76ers of their first-round or second-round picks, or declare the contract invalid.
html The 176ers should be very experienced in this regard. At that time, the Warriors were at an absolute low point, and many players were recruiting Curry.. The 76ers were criticized for illegally recruiting the Warriors' star Curry. Union punishment.
The NBA prohibits team officials from talking in public about players with contracts from other teams, but the 76ers executive posted a screenshot of Curry's circle of friends on social networks and said vaguely "Join them." .
Seth Curry, Curry's younger brother at the time, scored 30 points against the Wizards in the first round, setting a career high in the playoffs. So Curry encouraged his younger brother in the screenshot. They are brothers, so encouragement is understandable.
And communication between players will not be considered a violation. But when executives get involved, it can lead to a lot of misunderstandings. Although the executive later explained that he had no other meaning and was just happy that Seth was a member of the 76ers, who would believe it? Who wouldn't want to recruit Curry while the Warriors are at their lowest point. So he ended up incurring penalties and was ultimately fined $75,000.
As for the final result of this investigation, we are waiting for the alliance to announce it. But it can also be seen from this incident that Harden's road to the championship is full of obstacles. It is obvious that some people do not want him to win the championship.
Finally, I am making a personal guess. I think it is the 76ers who took the lead in the complaint from the Nets. I only represent my personal opinion. Everyone is welcome to communicate in the comment area.
