The Houston Rockets are in a tailspin. Their hot start to the post-James Harden era ground to a screeching halt once Christian Wood sprained his right ankle, and now, the Rockets have lost 10 games in a row. With their playoff hopes likely dashed, it's time for Houston to start considering the possibility of dealing its veterans to contending teams. Unsurprisingly, one is attracting interest from around the league: P.J. Tucker.
Reports linked the Milwaukee Bucks to Houston's stalwart defender earlier this week. Now, The Athletic's Kelly Iko is reporting that three other teams are in the mix: the Brooklyn Nets, Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz.
Brooklyn, at least theoretically, had a chance to trade for Tucker earlier in the season. They already executed one blockbuster deal with the Rockets this season when they acquired James Harden. There is little reason to believe that the Nets did not at least ask for Tucker at that point, but given the rushed nature of those negotiations, it is possible that Brooklyn simply didn't press the issue. It's worth noting, though, that the Rockets already control Brooklyn's first-round picks for the next seven years. If the Nets had anything else that Houston wanted, it likely would have extracted it in the Harden deal.
Denver is an obvious fit for Tucker. The Nuggets are currently ranked 21st in defense, and injuries have depleted much of their depth. The departure of Jerami Grant at Tucker's position didn't help matters in the offseason. Tucker is not remotely the scorer Grant has turned out to be, but he could fill a similar role on defense for a lower price. Tucker makes only around $8 million this season. That salary would fit into the trade exception Denver got in the Grant sign-and-trade with Detroit, though it would take the Nuggets beyond the luxury tax. Denver is hard-capped at the $138.9 million apron, though, so it would have to be careful about managing the rest of its roster.
Utah would have a far harder time trading for Tucker. They are already over the tax line, and like the Nuggets, they are hard-capped. At present, they have a bit of wiggle room beneath that line, but they lack an adequate trade exception to simply absorb Tucker. They would have to send out matching salary, and with the way that their roster is constructed, they just don't have much of it available. The Jazz have eight players on their roster making more than $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 eight leaders in minutes played. All of their meaningful salaries happen to be key parts of their rotation, so they do not have an obvious method of acquiring Tucker without compromising the success of their current group.
More contenders are bound to enter the fray if Tucker truly becomes available. Despite his age (36) and declining 3-point shooting (he has made only 31.6 percent of his attempts this season), his track record as a small-ball five in the postseason will appeal to any team with serious championship aspirations.
"all" - Google News
February 27, 2021 at 11:28AM
https://ift.tt/2PgsoRU
P.J. Tucker trade rumors: Nets, Jazz, Nuggets all interested in Rockets forward, per report - CBS Sports
"all" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2vcMBhz
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "P.J. Tucker trade rumors: Nets, Jazz, Nuggets all interested in Rockets forward, per report - CBS Sports"
Post a Comment