Ranking The Phoenix Suns’ Best Trade Assets In 2016-17
2. P.J. Tucker
P.J. Tucker has the least impressive numbers of anyone on the list, which is saying something considering Brandon Knight’s abysmal start to the 2016-17 season.
That being said, his value as a veteran, gritty defender and do-it-all garbage man cannot be overlooked.
I'd love to see PJ Tucker on a good team at some point. He really took it to Melo tonight and even got Clyde to say "cantankerous."
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) December 14, 2016
Though he’s only averaging 6.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 37.6 percent from the floor and 28.1 percent from three-point range, Tucker is not really meant to be a starter in this league. He’d be far more valuable in limited minutes off the bench playing for a contender.
Over the last two games, for example, Tucker has been assigned with the Herculean tasks of guarding Anthony Davis and Carmelo Anthony.
Though his brute defense can only be given so much credit for forcing those off games, holding AD to 14 points on 4-of-17 shooting and Melo to 13 points on 3-of-15 shooting in back-to-back games is quite an accomplishment.
Any question of playoff teams wanting Tucker is gone after what he's done defensively on AD and Melo the last two games
— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) December 14, 2016
On the season, opponents are shooting 4.4 percent worse when defended by Tucker than they normally would, per NBA.com, and the Suns’ defense is 3.7 points per 100 possessions worse with him off the floor.
He’s not shooting the ball well this season, but as recently as 2013-14 — the last time Tucker was playing for a winning Suns team — he made 38.7 percent of his threes in a 3-and-D role.
On an expiring contract only worth $5.3 million, Tucker is perhaps the most likely Suns candidate for a trade. He has value around the league, and after all the hard work he’s put in on losing teams, he deserves his chance to lend his hard-nosed playing style to a contender in a playoff series.