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The Houston Rockets are in a spin. Their hot start in the post-James Harden era came to a screeching halt once Christian Wood sprained his right ankle, and now the Rockets have lost 10 straight games. With their playoff hopes likely dashed, it’s time for Houston to start considering the possibility of treating its veterans against contending teams. Unsurprisingly, one of them is catching the interest of the entire league: PJ Tucker.
Reports linked the Milwaukee Bucks to the loyal Houston defenseman earlier this week. Now Athletic’s Kelly Iko reports that three other teams are in the mix: the Brooklyn Nets, Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz.
Brooklyn, at least in theory, had the chance to trade for Tucker earlier in the season. They’ve already signed a successful contract with the Rockets this season when they acquired James Harden. There’s little reason to believe the Nets didn’t at least ask for Tucker at that point, but given the rushed nature of these negotiations, it’s possible Brooklyn just didn’t push the issue. . It should be noted, however, that the Rockets already control Brooklyn’s first-round picks for the next seven years. If the Nets had something other than Houston wanted, he likely would have mined it in the Harden deal.
Denver is an obvious choice for Tucker. The Nuggets are currently ranked 21st in defense and injuries have used up much of their depth. Jerami Grant’s departure from Tucker’s position didn’t help matters during the offseason. Tucker isn’t by far the scorer Grant turned out to be, but he could play a similar role in defense for a lower price. Tucker only earns around $ 8 million this season. That salary would be part of the business exception Denver got as part of Grant’s signing and trading with Detroit, even if it would take the Nuggets beyond the luxury tax. However, Denver is capped at the $ 138.9 million apron, so care should be taken in handling the rest of its roster.
Utah would have a much harder time negotiating for Tucker. They’re already above the tax line, and like the Nuggets, they’re capped. Right now, they have a bit of wiggle room under that line, but they don’t have a proper trade exception to just absorb Tucker. They should send an equivalent salary and, given the way their roster is built, they just don’t get much. The Jazz have eight players on their roster and earn over $ 2 million. Those eight players, Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, Joe Ingles, Bojan Bogdanovic, Jordan Clarkson, Derrick Favors and Royce O’Neale, happen to be Utah’s top eight in minutes played. All of their significant salaries happen to be key components of their rotation, so they have no obvious method of acquiring Tucker without compromising the success of their current group.
More suitors are bound to enter the fray if Tucker becomes truly available. Despite his age (36) and 3-point drop in shooting (he’s only made 31.6% of his attempts this season), his record as a small five in the playoffs will appeal to any team with serious championship aspirations.
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