Sixers bank on trash-talking Tucker to bring the noise

CHARLESTON, South Carolina — Joel Embiid slung a towel over his shoulder and ditched his sneakers somewhere on the McAlister Field House court as he walked toward an ice tub. He stripped his socks, sunk his size-17 feet into the frosty water and started shooting the breeze with PJ Tucker.

Just under six months ago, they were adversaries — Tucker, the relentless trash-talker and defender who helped the Miami Heat knock out the Sixers in the playoffs; Embiid, the NBA scoring champion who openly stumped for Philadelphia to land a player like Tucker barely 30 minutes after the season ended in Game 6.

What the Big Man wants, the Big Man gets: three years and $32 million later, the 37-year-old Tucker was a Sixer.