NBA Trade Rumors: 4 Teams Linked to Clippers' PJ Tucker

PJ Tucker's days with the LA Clippers are done. This we learned earlier this month when it was revealed that the team and Tucker's camp were looking for a new home for the 39-year-old veteran. He remains away from the team while trade negotiations take place.

It's now emerging that four teams have had conversations with Tucker's agent expressing interest in a possible deal. And the one thing all four of those clubs have in common? They're all former Tucker teams.

A number of contenders — including the 76ers, Heat, Bucks and Suns — have held trade conversations with P.J. Tucker’s representation, sources told myself and @LawMurrayTheNU. The 14-year veteran remains away from the team, hopeful for a solution.
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) October 25, 2024

Let's have a look at these four destinations:

Milwaukee Bucks

This is the team that Tucker helped to an NBA championship. They dealt for him at the trade deadline in 2021, and while he provided very little on the offensive end, his defensive tenacity and locker room and floor leadership helped take the Bucks over the top.

Miami Heat

But Tucker didn't stay in Milwaukee after lifting the Larry O'Brien trophy. He took a free agent deal that summer with the Heat. And while that season was a relative success for him, as he contributed and played more minutes (27.9) than he has in any year since 2015-16, he chose to go back into the market in search of more money, and that has cost him. He hasn't been the same player since leaving South Beach.

Philadelphia 76ers

Tucker chose to opt out of his contract with Miami, and signed a three-year deal with the Sixers, an unexpected coup for the then-37-year-old. That didn't pan out. Tucker had one decent year in Philly, but then they packaged him in the James Harden deal to the Clippers at the beginning of last season, and he was a forgotten man on the end of the Clips' bench, leading to the current predicament he's in now. Does he trust the Sixers enough to go back there?

Phoenix Suns

This is the team where he established himself in the NBA, spending the first 4 full seasons of his career in Phoenix, before they dealt him at the deadline in the middle of his 5th season there.

The 14-year veteran averaged just 1.6 points and 2.5 rebounds last year with Philly and the Clippers, but was pinned to the end of the LA bench more often than not.

He will certainly bring that locker room presence and leadership to whichever of his alma maters he returns to.