Daryl Morey continues to turn to familiar faces while retooling the Sixers

A cliche in journalism is “write what you know.”

Does the same approach apply to NBA roster-building? Daryl Morey appears to be banking on that in his effort to reshape the 76ers into a championship contender.

Every player added to the Sixers so far this offseason has ties to Morey’s former team, the Houston Rockets. This, of course, comes after Morey acquired perennial All-Star and former MVP James Harden — his “Basketball Jesus” from their time together in Houston — at the February trade deadline.

» READ MORE: P.J. Tucker agrees to join Sixers on a 3-year, $33.2 million deal, reunites with James Harden and Daryl Morey

De’Anthony Melton, the combo guard the Sixers traded for on draft night, originally was selected by Morey’s Rockets in the 2018 draft before being traded to the Phoenix Suns later that summer. Rugged veteran forward P.J. Tucker, whom sources confirmed to The Inquirer agreed to a three-year, $33.2 million contract shortly after free agency negotiations opened Thursday night, spent parts of four seasons with Houston. Danuel House, the two-way wing who reportedly agreed to a two-year, $8.5 million deal Thursday night, also played parts of four seasons with the Rockets.

Even 24-year-old shooting guard Trevelin Queen, who reportedly agreed to a two-year deal Thursday, was the 2021-22 G League MVP with the Rockets-affiliated Rio Grande Valley Vipers and played 10 games with the parent club while on a two-way contract last season.

The 37-year-old Tucker is a self-made high-level role player. After spending five seasons overseas, he carved out an NBA role with the Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors before playing for the Rockets from 2017-21. He was dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks at last season’s trade deadline and helped lift them to the NBA title before playing last season for a Miami Heat team that finished with the Eastern Conference’s best regular season record and advanced to the conference finals.

Tucker is a stout defender who is not afraid to bang inside despite being undersized at 6-foot-5. He made 41.5% of his three-pointers last season with the Heat and is particularly lethal from the corners. And he embodies the physical and mental toughness multiple Sixers said they lacked following their Eastern Conference semifinal loss to the Heat — so much so that Embiid directly referenced Tucker by name following the series-ending Game 6.

House, meanwhile, was a Rocket from 2018 until being waived this past December. He re-established his value during a successful stint with the Utah Jazz that began with three 10-day contracts. The 6-foot-6, 220-pounder can provide wing depth with his defense, rebounding, and three-point shooting. That became a position of need after the Sixers on draft night traded veteran Danny Green, who tore two ligaments in his knee in Game 6 of the Heat series.

Queen, a Baltimore native who went undrafted out of New Mexico State in 2021, averaged 25.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 3.2 steals while propelling the Vipers to the G League championship.

These Sixers are not a carbon copy of the Rockets that were one game away from the 2018 NBA Finals, the same season Harden won MVP.

» READ MORE: NBA free agency: Morey adds trio of former Rockets, including P.J. Tucker

Those Houston teams, coached by Mike D’Antoni, launched bundles of three-pointers and allowed Harden to play iso-ball. They did not have a center like Embiid, the back-to-back MVP runner-up who led the league in scoring last season. The second star on those Rockets, Chris Paul and then Russell Westbrook, played alongside Harden in the backcourt.

Yet Morey is relying on familiar players to step into key complementary roles around the Sixers’ core of Embiid, Harden, Tyrese Maxey, and (at least for now) Tobias Harris.

Which makes it appropriate to ask this question: Will Morey also still pursue Eric Gordon, the current Rocket and former NBA Sixth Man of the Year? The Inquirer reported the Sixers tried to trade for Gordon on draft night in a deal that would have involved Matisse Thybulle and perhaps a third team.