P.J. Tucker Rumors | Hoops Rumors

P.J. Tucker Out 6-8 Weeks With Back Injury

September 15th, 2016 at 3:53pm CST by Luke Adams

Suns forward P.J. Tucker may not be ready for opening night, after having undergone a successful microdiscectomy procedure on his lower back, the Suns announced today in a press release. The team expects Tucker to be sidelined for the next six to eight weeks.

Tucker, the longest-tenured Sun, appeared in all 82 games for Phoenix last year, starting 80 of them and averaging a career-high 31.0 minutes per contest. For the season, he averaged 8.0 PPG and 6.2 RPG, chipping in 2.2 APG and 1.3 SPG as well.

With Tucker sidelined, players like Devin Booker, Jared Dudley, and T.J. Warren could see a few extra minutes early in the season. However, unless the Suns expect the issue to linger well into the season, Tucker’s recovery shouldn’t have a real impact on the team’s 15-man roster decisions.

Earlier today, we heard that the Suns will add Mike Moser, Shaquille Harrison, and Derrick Jones Jr. to their training camp roster. Those three players will vie with John Jenkins and perhaps one or two other players for the 15th and final roster spot in Phoenix, though they’ll likely end up heading to the D-League’s Northern Arizona Suns.

Free Agent Notes: Parsons, Conley, Lin, Smith

July 1st, 2016 at 10:12am CST by Arthur Hill

Free agents Mike Conley and Chandler Parsons have talked several times about teaming up in Memphis, posts Tim MacMahon on ESPN Now. Parsons, who already has a maximum offer on the table from the Blazers, will meet with Grizzlies officials later today in Los Angeles. Conley has a meeting scheduled with the Mavericks, but MacMahon says Conley and Parsons haven’t talked about becoming teammates in Dallas.

There’s more news on the first day of free agency:

The Pelicans could have signed point guard Jeremy Lin, but weren’t willing to give him more than $10MM per season, tweets Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com. Lin agreed to a deal with the Nets this morning for $36MM over three years.
Ish Smith, who agreed to terms with the Pistons early this morning, felt slighted that the Sixers waited so long to call him, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The team didn’t reach out to Smith until 3:30 a.m., and by that time he had decided to go to Detroit.
With more than $60MM to spend, the Sixers are targeting guards as free agency begins, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. He names the Thunder’s Dion Waiters, the Clippers‘ Jamal Crawford and the Blazers‘ Allen Crabbe as players that Philadelphia has interest in.
The Suns have guaranteed P.J. Tucker‘s salary for next season, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. The 31-year-old small forward will receive $5.3MM in 2016/17. He only had a partial guarantee of $1.5MM before Thursday.
The Wolves have contacted Bulls free agent guard E’Twaun Moore, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News in Minneapolis. Moore averaged 7.5 points and 1.7 assists in 59 games this season.
Several teams are expected to pursue Blazers restricted free agent Maurice Harkless, posts Marc Spears on ESPN Now. A source tells Spears that the Wizards, Pistons, Lakers, Mavericks and Jazz are all interested.

Western Rumors: Anderson, Rockets, Lakers

February 18th, 2016 at 2:02pm CST by Will Joseph

The price New Orleans has set for Ryan Anderson is “exorbitant,” tweets Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. The Cavs were one of several teams linked to having interest in acquiring Anderson, who is set to be a free agent this summer. Anderson is expected to attract a salary starting at $16MM-$18MM when he hits the market this summer. It’s interesting to note how much the Pelicans are asking for Anderson because they aren’t even sure if they can keep him beyond this season.

Here is more trade deadline news from the Western Conference:

The Rockets have been gauging the value of point guard Patrick Beverley, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
P.J. Tucker is one of the Suns‘ top assets, but he has been told he will not be traded, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
The Lakers have taken calls regarding Roy Hibbert, but they don’t intend to buy him out if he is not dealt, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com tweets. Most teams interested in Brandon Bass and Hibbert would force the Lakers to take back unattractive contracts, Shelburne also tweets.
Mike Conley‘s first choice when he hits free agency this summer is to stay with the Grizzlies, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reports.

Bucks, Suns Talk Teletovic; Markieff Still On Block

February 18th, 2016 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Bucks and Suns are in talks about a trade that would send Mirza Teletovic to Milwaukee, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link). It’s among multiple conversations Phoenix is having, Stein notes. The Suns continue to shop Markieff Morris and receive interest from the Raptors and others in P.J. Tucker, Stein adds (on Twitter). The effort on the Morris front is in spite of Morris having said Wednesday night that he wants to stay in Phoenix, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.

“Happy where I am now and we’ll see what happens,” Morris said. “It’s a part of the game. I’ve learned that this past two years. A lot of stuff is going to happen that’s not in my control. All I can do is wait to see if I’m here. If I’m not, I had a couple great years here and I loved it. If I am, keep on moving forward and get better.”

Morris and Teletovic both play power forward. Jon Leuer is the only other natural four on the Phoenix roster. Teletovic’s $5.5MM salary is slightly too large for Milwaukee’s $5.2MM trade exception, as Stein points out, so the Bucks would have to send at least $3.6MM in salary to the Suns to faciliate a deal.

The Raptors had interest in Morris, but they’re apparently out of the mix on him. The Suns as of mid-January had reportedly been delaying talks about Teletovic, who’s on a one-year contract, and Tucker until they had a better idea of whether they could make the playoffs, but Phoenix hit the All-Star break 13 games out of a playoff spot.

Raptors Highly Interested In Ryan Anderson

February 11th, 2016 at 1:13pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Raptors have high interest in Ryan Anderson as the trade deadline approaches, reports Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Toronto joins a handful of teams apparently eyeing the soon-to-be free agent for a trade, as well as the Pistons, who’ve reportedly been looking at him but only as a potential offseason signee. The Raptors are seeking power forwards, with Thaddeus Young, Kenneth Faried and Markieff Morris among the names on their radar, according to multiple reports. Toronto has engaged in exploratory discussions about those three as well as P.J. Tucker, another object of their interest, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, though it’s not entirely clear whether those are internal or external talks.

Anderson is making $8.5MM this season, and the Raptors, who are over the cap and without a trade exception, would have to match for that salary to trade for him, a complicated task given the construction of Toronto’s roster, as Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca has pointed out. Toronto has an extra pick in each of the next two drafts to offer, and GM Masai Ujiri has signaled an intent to eventually trade at least one of those, but any deal would have to involve more than just draft assets going to New Orleans.

Conflicting reports have emerged about the likelihood of an Anderson trade this season, though more of them indicate that he’s not the likeliest trade candidate on the New Orleans roster than the other way around. New Orleans reportedly made Anderson available earlier this season, but the team wasn’t anxious to trade him, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reported, adding Wednesday that the Wizards have asked about him. The Rockets “kicked the tires” on Anderson earlier this season, Kyler also reported. New Orleans apparently had talks with the Suns that involved Anderson, while differing reports paint an unclear picture of whether the Pelicans turned down an offer from the Kings of Rudy Gay for Anderson.

The subject of the Raptors and power forwards was the topic for our Community Shootaround on Wednesday.

Wizards Ask About Anderson, Tucker, Booker

February 10th, 2016 at 1:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Wizards have inquired about Ryan Anderson, P.J. Tucker and Trevor Booker as they search for help at power forward, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who writes in his NBA AM piece. Washington hasn’t gained much traction in talks thus far, Kyler cautions, having heard that the team believes the serious talk will take place during the All-Star break. The Wizards have been disappointing this season, sitting one game in the loss column behind the eighth-place Pistons in the Eastern Conference, but they’re unlikely to break up their core, Kyler writes.

Multiple reports within the last month have indicated that the Pelicans are more willing to trade other players than they are with Anderson, and coach Alvin Gentry has said he’s unlikely to end up in a deal, even though NBA executives reportedly believed, at least as of January, that if the Pelicans were to make a trade this season, Anderson would be in it. Stretch fours appeal to Washington, according to Kyler, and Anderson, a career 38% 3-point shooter, fits that bill. New Orleans reportedly made Anderson available earlier this season, but the team wasn’t anxious to trade him, as Kyler reported, later noting that the Rockets “kicked the tires” on him. New Orleans apparently had talks with the Suns about Markieff Morris that involved Anderson. Reports conflict on whether New Orleans turned down an offer from the Kings of Rudy Gay for Anderson

Tucker has consistently been attracting interest on the trade market, with the Raptors among those eyeing him, multiple reports have said. The Suns were reportedly holding off on trade discussions involving him as of last month, waiting to gauge their postseason hopes, but Phoenix has fallen 12 games behind the eighth-place Rockets. He’d be an undersized option at the four, since he’s 6’6″ and primarily plays small forward, but Washington has used 6’7″ Jared Dudley extensively at power forward this season. Tucker, unlike Anderson and Booker, has one more year left on his contract, but it’s only partially guaranteed for $1.5MM, so it wouldn’t take a significant chunk out of Washington’s cap flexibility for the summer ahead.

Rumors about Booker have been sparse, even though he’s on an expiring contract with the Jazz that gives him $4.775MM this season. Washington’s interest in Booker is somewhat curious, even though he spent his first four NBA seasons there, since the Wizards elected not to tender a qualifying offer to him when he was eligible for restricted free agency in 2014.

What should the Wizards do at the deadline? Leave a comment to share your ideas.

Pacific Notes: Griffin, Tucker, Simmons

February 5th, 2016 at 9:09pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Clippers power forward Blake Griffin underwent a second surgical procedure this week on his broken right hand, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com relays. The latest procedure was related to his initial one and isn’t considered a setback, Shelburne notes. The original expectation that Griffin will miss approximately four to six weeks is still currently in place, according to the ESPN scribe. The Sixers and Nuggets have reportedly checked on Griffin’s availability, though the Clippers have no active interest in trading him in spite of offers that several teams have made. A report from Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports noted that L.A. plans a concerted effort to look for Griffin trades in the offseason if they disappoint in the playoffs this spring. While Griffin waits to learn if he’ll be facing discipline from the NBA, here’s more of what’s happening in the Pacific Division…

P.J. Tucker, who is the subject of recent trade rumors involving the Raptors, says he wants to remain with the Suns, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic relays. “I love being in Phoenix,” Tucker said. “It’s been my longest stop of my career and hopefully it continues.” This desire to remain in Phoenix is dampened by the team’s struggles this season, Coro adds. “It would suck,” Tucker said about a potential trade. “I’m not going to lie. I was here when it was down. We came up and now we’re having a tough year this year. Seeing it full circle and not obtaining the goal of making the playoffs since I’ve been here, that wouldn’t be the top of my list of things that I like.”
The Lakers currently hold a 19.9% chance at landing the No. 1 overall pick this June and there are questions if Ben Simmons, the projected top pick in this year’s NBA draft, and power forward Julius Randle would fit well together, writes Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. “Julius Randle is that 4 guy who handles the basketball,” NBA TV analyst Steve Smith opined. “It would be interesting if they would play them together or not together.” If the Lakers did select Simmons in the draft it would raise questions regarding Randle’s future with the franchise considering the number of similarities between the players’ games, Medina notes. “He has to be the secondary ball-handler,” an NBA executive said of Simmons. “If you’re not going to use him as a point forward, you’re wasting your time.”

Raptors Interested In P.J. Tucker

February 3rd, 2016 at 12:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Raptors are among the teams interested in trading for P.J. Tucker, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The small forward is making $5.5MM this season but only $1.5MM of his $5.3MM salary for next season is guaranteed. The Suns were reportedly putting off talks about Tucker as of last month while they waited to gauge their postseason chances, but Phoenix is a long shot for the playoffs at this point, 10 games behind eighth-place Portland.

Stein expects Phoenix will hold out for a “nice pick” in return for Tucker. The Raptors are slated for an extra first-round pick both this year and next. Raptors GM Masai Ujiri has indicated that the team plans to unload the surplus of first-rounders at some point, but Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun reported that the Raptors have no intention of giving them up cheaply and aren’t interested in a stopgap player. However, that was before James Johnson underwent an MRI on Tuesday after suffering an ankle injury. Johnson was filling in at small forward for DeMarre Carroll, who remains at least a few weeks away from returning after right knee surgery.

The Suns are dealing with injury concerns of their own, as combo forward T.J. Warren went down with a season-ending injury this week, placing him on the shelf alongside Eric Bledsoe, who was already done for the year. Still, Tucker, who turns 31 in May, doesn’t quite epitomize a youthful building block, and the Suns have incentive to focus on young players and build for the future amid a season in which little has gone right for them.

Toronto’s interest in Tucker dates to at least the summer of 2014, when he was a free agent and re-signed with Phoenix, leading the Raptors to ink Johnson instead, notes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter link). Tucker was originally a draft pick of the Raptors in 2006, but that was long before Ujiri took charge of the front office.

What do you think the Suns should demand in return for Tucker? Share your thoughts.

Western Notes: Suns, Kings, Davis

January 15th, 2016 at 3:47pm CST by Will Joseph

Mirza Teletovic and P.J. Tucker have attracted interest on the trade market, but the Suns are delaying discussions about those two players until they believe they are out of the playoff picture, one league source told Sean Deveney of the Sporting News. That time might come soon, however, considering the Suns are 13-27 and four and a half games behind for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Markieff Morris is also still viewed as a valuable stretch-power forward on the trade market, according to Deveney. That’s because Morris’ contract (he has three years and $24MM left after this season) is affordable and he still has plenty of upside, one source told Deveney.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Kings vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac does not make it a priority to return calls from other executives around the league, according to ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst (link to podcast hosted by ESPN.com’s Zach Lowe; h/t Dan Feldman of NBCSports.com). What’s more, Divac was unaware that there was a trade call to the league office when Sacramento sent Jason Thompson, Carl Landry, and Nik Stauskas to the Sixers, according to Lowe.
Ed Davis, whom the Blazers signed to a three-year, $20MM deal in the summer, said Portland differs from his previous team, the Lakers, because the Blazers have a clear-cut rebuilding plan, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders details. “Here, we’re trying to build something,” Davis told Kennedy. “I enjoyed my time with the Lakers. Coach [Byron] Scott, [GM] Mitch [Kupchak] and all those guys were good to me, so I don’t really have any complaints. But it’s just different [in Portland]. Obviously in L.A. they want those big stars and they’re not really trying to keep a core together. Now they’re starting to do it because they aren’t getting those top free agents in. Here, there’s just stability. You know that guys are going to be around for a while. You don’t have the feeling that you could get traded any minute or that they’re going to bring a superstar in [to replace you]. You can just focus on doing your job. You know [the plan] and that everything is going to be fine.”
The Grizzlies assigned James Ennis to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Ennis’ seventh assignment to the Iowa Energy.

Pacific Notes: Cousins, Chandler, Walton

January 2nd, 2016 at 3:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Kings are at a critical point in relation to the direction of the franchise, and the question must be asked if center DeMarcus Cousins is the player the team should be building around, Sam Amick of USA Today writes. Cousins is on his fifth coach since entering the league and Sacramento has yet to eclipse the 30 win mark with the big man as the focal point, which isn’t a glowing endorsement of his ability to be the franchise’s anchor going forward, Amick notes.

Coach George Karl is also questioning the team’s demeanor and the roster’s lack of defensive-minded players, Amick adds. “My thought, and I told the team my thought, is inconsistent intensity, inconsistent focus, inconsistent toughness and mental discipline,” Karl said. “Too many times we’ve come out on this court and we’ve been the quiet team, or the soft team, or the cool team, and not the man team. My feeling is we have too many offensive players. We don’t have enough guts to make stops.”

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

The Suns find themselves in a difficult spot regarding rebuilding the roster, and with approximately $110MM committed to the backcourt duo of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight through 2018/19, the team’s best course of action would be to attempt to deal Tyson Chandler and Markieff Morris in order to clear cap space, writes Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders. Phoenix should also consider waiving small forward P.J. Tucker and his partially guaranteed pact this offseason, which would free up an additional $3.7MM in cap room, Greene adds.
Warriors interim coach Luke Walton was the perfect choice for the franchise to fill in for Steve Kerr while he recovers from back surgery, Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group writes. Leung cites Walton’s humble demeanor and excellent preparedness as reasons why he was able to find immediate success, though Golden State’s talented roster certainly was a major benefit for the young coach as well.