HONOLULU — The LA Clippers and forward P.J. Tucker have agreed that Tucker will be away from the team indefinitely while the two sides work to find a better situation for the 13-year veteran.
The LA Clippers announce that PJ Tucker will not be with the team indefinitely. pic.twitter.com/CUVpkDuZuf
— Law Murray 🏟️ (@LawMurrayTheNU) October 6, 2024
The announcement from the team came one day after a 91-90 preseason loss to the Golden State Warriors in which Tucker, 39, was one of two available players who did not play. While veteran Nicolas Batum was rested after a summer of participating on the silver-medal-winning French national team during the Summer Olympics, Tucker was a did not play, coach’s decision. Tucker was also the only player on the team who was not present for media day, although he did join the Clippers for training camp in Hawaii.
Tucker told The Athletic after Saturday’s game that he is with the team “for now,” suggesting that he hasn’t been thrilled with his status. It’s another event in a thread of an unideal union between Tucker and the Clippers since last year’s trade that sent Batum, Marcus Morris Sr., Robert Covington, KJ Martin, and draft compensation to the Philadelphia 76ers for James Harden, Tucker, and Filip Petrusev.
While that trade marked the end of Harden’s eventful standoff with Philadelphia and president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, it turned Tucker’s situation upside down. Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank praised Tucker for his toughness, and head coach Tyronn Lue inserted Tucker into the rotation immediately as a backup power forward.
It was a poor fit, especially offensively, as Tucker is only an average 3-point shooter at this stage of his career and offers no threat inside the arc or with the ball in his hands. Playing Tucker with another big hamstrung the Clippers offense, and the Clippers struggled to rebound when Tucker was at center. When the Clippers separated Harden and incumbent starting point guard Russell Westbrook in the first unit, Lue considered starting Tucker in the spot vacated by Westbrook before settling in on Terance Mann, who won the starting job out of camp before suffering a sprained ankle. But by the end of November, Tucker was out of the rotation entirely, replaced by 2023 first-round pick Kobe Brown.
Tucker made it clear before the winter solstice that he wanted to be traded. Complicating matters on that front was the three-year, $33 million contract Tucker signed in 2022 to leave the Miami Heat and join the 76ers, reuniting him with former Rockets teammate Harden. Tucker’s contract was made possible by a sacrifice that Harden made on his own contract, something the NBA did not appreciate, as the league fined the 76ers and stripped them of a draft pick. Tucker was a starter for the 76ers in the first year of his contract, and even began the 2023-24 season as a starter while Harden waited for a trade.
The Clippers did not play Tucker at all in December and January, though Tucker was with the team in practices and on the road. Tucker insisted that he would not accept a buyout, and unsurprisingly, Tucker was not traded before the February deadline. Before the Clippers’ last game before the All-Star break, a road trip to Golden State, Tucker and point guard Bones Hyland were deactivated and sent home. Lue said he appreciated that both players wanted to play and felt that both would come back with clearer minds after the break. But even in praising Tucker’s will to play, Lue mentioned Tucker’s salary while joking about his age.
Tyronn Lue speaks on PJ Tucker, Bones Hyland. Adds that Brandon Boston Jr. will get his opportunity tonight and expect Amir Coffey to start again with Kawhi Leonard out. pic.twitter.com/NYQfnYduBr
— Law Murray 🏟️ (@LawMurrayTheNU) February 14, 2024
“You got guys like P.J., who has another year left on his deal, he could ride off into the sunset, he’s 70 years old,” Lue said the morning after Tucker and Hyland were sent home.
Tucker’s participation did increase after the All-Star break, as he appeared in 16 of 29 games. The Clippers still struggled in Tucker’s minutes, and he wasn’t in the rotation to begin the Western Conference quarterfinals against the Dallas Mavericks. Lue didn’t turn to Tucker until the second half of Game 5, the worst loss in franchise history, one that sent the Clippers to the brink of elimination. Lue surprisingly started Tucker in Game 6 at Dallas, in place of Amir Coffey with Kawhi Leonard out because of right knee inflammation. The results were as expected, with the Clippers getting outplayed significantly in Tucker’s minutes to begin both halves to end the season.
Tucker has since exercised the final year of his contract that will pay him $11.5 million. The Clippers entertained trading Tucker, as they do not want to be on the hook for the last year of his deal while he plays elsewhere. The Clippers similarly did not want to buy out Westbrook’s final year after Westbrook opted in, and LA found a trade partner in the Utah Jazz, acquiring guard Kris Dunn in the process; Westbrook was waived by the Jazz and signed with the Denver Nuggets.
Ideally, the Clippers would have had Tucker participate with the team until the winter when the trade market presents more realistic options. Tucker’s high salary could then be helpful to the Clippers toward completing a transaction. But Tucker has such limited trade value that it would certainly cost the Clippers an asset to move him. It’s not like the Clippers don’t have positions of weakness. The offense lacks consistent shooting threats, especially with Leonard out indefinitely to manage his right knee rehabilitation, and there is no reliable backup center. New acquisition Mo Bamba was held out of scrimmages and the preseason opener with left knee soreness, while 2021 first-round pick Kai Jones still has to make the team after playing in zero NBA games last season.
The Clippers are no strangers to having disgruntled veterans on the team during the preseason. Last year, it was Morris Sr. who was waiting to be traded while being held out of all of the preseason games and not making the first regular-season road trip to Utah. But even Morris was still around the team entering the second week of the preseason and up through his inclusion in the trade that brought Harden and Tucker to the Clippers. Tucker and the Clippers didn’t even get that far this year.
(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
