This offseason, the LA Clippers have made several changes to their roster. In free agency, the team lost Paul George to the Philadelphia 76ers. However, they were able to sign SF Derrick Jones Jr. who is coming off a strong season with Dallas. On Thursday, the Clippers traded with the Jazz for Russell Westbrook. He’s expected to be bought out by Utah and signed by Denver.
That changes the complexity of LA’s roster in 2024-25. ESPN front office insider Bobby Marks announced that the Clippers are looking to find a new home for veteran forward P.J. Tucker. The 39-year-old grew frustrated with the limited playing time he was seeing. There was speculation at one point in time that Tucker wanted to be traded. We’ll see if LA can find him a new landing spot this summer.
Is any team going to want to sign P.J. Tucker for the 2024-25 season?
The Clippers’ next priority is to find a new home for PJ Tucker, per @BobbyMarks42
“The Clippers traded Russell Westbrook to Utah, and now the priority is finding veteran PJ Tucker a new home. Tucker is on an expiring $11.5 million contract. The Clippers also have a decision… pic.twitter.com/BNr0f56R13
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 19, 2024
P.J. Tucker has seen his ups and downs throughout his 13 years in the NBA and other professional leagues. In the second round of the 2006 Draft, the Raptors selected Tucker out of Texas. He played in 17 games for Toronto as a rookie. For the next five seasons, Tucker played overseas in three different professional leagues. Ahead of the 2012-13 season, Tucker signed a two-year deal with the Suns. The veteran forward has been in the league ever since.
Last season, Tucker started the year with the Philadelphia 76ers. Early into the season, the team traded all-star PG James Harden and P.J. Tucker to the Clippers. With LA, Tucker saw extremely limited playing time. Head coach Ty Lue had Tucker inactive for 38 straight games and this frustrated the veteran. At this stage in his career, Tucker is looking to play, Not sit on the bench. He only has so much more time left in the NBA. The 39-year-old played in 28 games for the Clippers in 2023-24 and made seven starts.
We can’t start the season with a 15 man roster that includes PJ TUCKER, come on now @LAClippers
— Liam (@L28C96) July 19, 2024
With the Clippers in 2023-24, P.J. Tucker averaged (1.6) points and (2.5) rebounds per game. That was the lowest points per game total of his entire career. P.J. Tucker is at the tail end of his career and it’s hard to see a team wanting to trade for him. The veteran may end up being waived this summer in hopes to try and sign with a team before the 2024-25 season starts.
