10:42am: The Clippers sent home both Tucker and Hyland ahead of Wednesday’s game vs. Golden State, Charania confirms (via Twitter). Like Tucker, Hyland is expected to rejoin the team after the All-Star break.
9:54am: Clippers forward P.J. Tucker won’t be with the team for its final game before the All-Star break on Wednesday in Golden State, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports that the forward’s absence will give him an opportunity to “reset” ahead of the home stretch of the season.
Tucker is expected to rejoin the Clippers after the All-Star break, sources tell Charania. The club’s post-All-Star schedule begins with a back-to-back road set in Oklahoma City and Memphis on February 22 and 23.
As Charania notes, Tucker – who was sent along with James Harden from Philadelphia to Los Angeles at the start of November – has been unhappy with his situation in L.A. for much of the season.
The 38-year-old hasn’t seen action since November 27 after initially playing a rotation role for the Clippers. He averaged just 1.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per game across 12 appearances off the bench for his new team, making 4-of-14 field goal attempts (28.6%).
Reports of Tucker’s discontent first surfaced in December. In the days and weeks that followed, he repeatedly expressed frustration with his lack of playing time, and the Clippers reportedly made an effort to trade him at last Thursday’s deadline. However, he presumably had negative value on the trade market due to the $11.54MM player option on his contract for next season, and L.A. didn’t find a deal.
Because Tucker isn’t on an expiring contract, a buyout isn’t an option receiving consideration, according to Charania, who hears from sources that the Clippers and Tucker had “productive” and “much-needed” discussions this week about the forward staying ready to potentially reenter the club’s rotation.
Asked about Tucker’s situation following the trade deadline last week, head coach Tyronn Lue downplayed the veteran’s dissatisfaction and told reporters that he’ll “get an opportunity.”
Neither Charania nor Lue offered any specific details on a plan or timeline for Tucker to rejoin the rotation, so it’s unclear when exactly that might happen. Given that the Clippers have gone 28-8 since Tucker last played, they’re likely not eager to mess too much with what’s working.
For what it’s worth, Bones Hyland – another Clipper who has been out of the rotation and whose name surfaced in trade rumors ahead of the deadline – was added to the injury report along with Tucker last night. They’re both listed as “not with team” for Wednesday’s game vs. the Warriors.
Retire PJ. It’s over. The beard got you a contract in Philly. You were done since you left Milwaukee.
PJ won’t retire until he gets waived by a cap space team next year so he can collect his $11+ mil. He’ll latch onto a “contender” as a bench guy for the rest of next season and will have to retire once that team realizes he’s nothing more than a voice.
He was massive for the Heat when they made the ECF push in 2022… wtf u talking about lol.. the heat offered him 3/24 the 6ers tampered to get him 3/30… he wasn’t “done” lol.. he probably still can play great d
Pat Riley warned PJ not to take the 6ers deal… you reap what you sew.. hope that extra 3 mill was worth all the misery he’s going through now
Childish. Do you see the last players guys on each roster whining about a lack of playing time, so much so that they need to be sent home? Of course not. Tucker is in denial about his current level of skill and needs to wake up to reality. What makes you think you’re worthy of playing time on that roster at the moment?
Nothing wrong with wanting to play of course, but there’s a difference between hoping for playing time and requiring a leave of absence.
I bet Bones was punching the air last year for asking to be traded from the Nuggets.
no doubt lol
Bones is an incredibly talented scorer, but he failed to understand the importance of playing in the flow of your offensive system.. In Denver that means you have to always be cutting/screening/spacing when you don’t have the ball. Until he understands that good teams need more than just a scorer for a starting position, and reinvents his approach – he should be grateful for getting the 18 minutes of hoisting iso 3pt shots he was getting in Denver.
He got some poor advice (or lack of) when he asked for a trade. You only get drafted by one team – The rest didn’t want you enough back then, so they surely don’t give a damn about if your career shapes up now. This past year stunted his development, on top of the reputation he made for himself of being a bad teammate – which by this absence from the team, i take that he still doesn’t understand the importance of staying ready within the teams flow. What is there for him to be toxic about? His value dropped so far that the clips couldn’t reasonably just let him go… they’d be better off keeping home away from team then letting him go to a rival for virtually nothing in return
If his name was Craig Smith I wonder how much 2k support ( his fans today ) he would get
The 2k’ers love their guy Bones, no doubt. But Cam Thomas is fast becoming a 2k legend. No fancy name there. He’s managed to do it merely by ignoring his teammates, lacking vision and judgment and playing no defense. Tells the kids out there that if they’re committed, then they can achieve their goals even without a great nickname.
Who knew sucking and being benched counts as “being injured” and qualifies one for the injury list. Hurt feelings?
It’s over for PJ… His tank has ran dry or he needs to spend more time on his shot… You can’t be a negative on offence in this NBA…
But something is going wrong with the development of these young kids… Far too much ego before they’re able to prove they have it… Is it the NCAA? Is it high school?… They have a need for a level of that beleif… But it’s spilled over into spoilt kid territory far too often lately…