The NBA’s Trade Deadline has officially come to an end, and what a busy week it was. We saw Luke Doncic on the move in one of the most shocking deals in recent history. We saw Jimmy Butler finally find his way out of Miami. But no one had a longer last week than P.J. Tucker.
Tucker used as trade bait
Tucker is a veteran, three-and-D specialist who won an NBA Championship after a long career bouncing around Europe and the NBA. Since joining the Suns in 2012 he has been a staple in the league, even though he’s been on five different teams since 2021.
While he is used to the nomad lifestyle in the NBA, nothing could have prepared him for what he lived through since the start of the month. Despite not playing a single minute this season, Tucker was traded three times within a five day span.
The first trade came on February 1st when the 39 year old was traded by the LA Clippers to the Utah Jazz in a deal that included Mo Bamba and cash for Drew Eubanks, Patty Mills and a second-round pick in the 2030 NBA Draft.
Toronto is the final destination
On Wednesday, the Jazz sent Tucker to Miami as a part of the three-team mega deal that landed Jimmy Butler with the Warriors. Tucker spent the 2021/22 season in Miami, so he was in line for a bit of a homecoming, but that was short-lived.
Finally just before the deadline was up, the Heat made a deal that sends Tucker to Toronto, with a second-round pick and cash for Davion Mitchell as Miami look to pick up the pieces in the post Jimmy Butler era.
Tucker will be hoping to play his first minutes of the season after falling out of favor in LA last year. “I want to be somewhere where I’m needed, wanted and can do it all,” Tucker told reporters before the trade deadline last year. “I don’t know what’s going to happen but I have my fingers crossed and I’m hoping to go somewhere else whether I get bought out and choose where I go or where I can play.”
