After their draft-night acquisition of De’Anthony Melton, the Sixers would have had roughly $151.7 million committed to 13 players if Harden opted in. Although the salary cap and luxury-tax threshold both came in slightly higher than expected—nearly $123.7 million and $150.3 million rather than $122 million and $149 million, respectively—they would have been only $5.3 million below the apron. That means the Sixers would have needed to shed $5.2 million to gain access to the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception (which they used to sign to Tucker) and an additional $4.1 million to get access to the bi-annual exception (which they used on House).
None of this was hard to foresee. In the weeks leading up to free agency, it was clear that Harden opting out and re-signing for less than his max salary would give the Sixers more financial flexibility to round out their roster. Otherwise, they would have been limited to the $6.5 million taxpayer mid-level exception, which likely would have taken them out of the running for Tucker.
In mid-July, Harden explained that he declined his player option and took $14.4 million less for next season specifically so the Sixers could add more help around him and Joel Embiid.
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