Sixers lose 2023, 2024 second-round picks for tampering

NBA teams weren't permitted to talk to prospective free agents until the new league year officially began at 6 p.m. Eastern time on June 30. The league investigation found that the Sixers inappropriately contacted those players - both old teammates of James Harden from Houston - before it was legal to do so.

Harden opted out of his contract for 2022-23 and took a reduced salary, freeing up the Sixers to sign Tucker and House. The NBA's punishment does not affect the validity of the deals Tucker and House signed, but it does limit Philadelphia's options for mid-season trades. They traded two first-round picks in the James Harden deal with Brooklyn, and sent another to Oklahoma City to dump Al Horford. Now they're down to second-rounders in 2023 and 2029 as trade chips, and can't trade a first-round pick until 2029.

Commissioner Adam Silver has vowed to crack down on the NBA's rampant tampering. The league created harsher penalties for tampering and salary cap circumvention back in 2019. 

Two years ago, the league took away Milwaukee's second-round pick in 2022 for trying to arrange a sign-and-trade with Sacramento's Bogdan Bogdanovic, a penalty that was imposed despite the trade not ultimately going through. And the NBA continues to investigate the New York Knicks' signing of Jalen Brunson in July, a move that came after the Knicks hired his father as an assistant coach.

The 76ers have started the season 3-4, with House and Tucker combining to score 8.1 points per game.