Miami Heat: P.J. Tucker should not be a top trade target

Let’s take a look at why the Miami Heat should explore other options before pursuing a P.J. Tucker trade before the deadline.

There is a perception around the league that the Miami Heat could pursue a PJ Tucker trade at the deadline. Multiple executives told Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype on January 14th that Miami and Boston should be the favorites to acquire Tucker before the trade deadline on March 25th.

At first glance, Tucker appears to be great for the Heat as head coach Erik Spoelstra uses the power forward position as a floor spacer on offense. For example, Jae Crowder and Andre Iguodala took over 50 percent of their field goals from behind the arc last season, attempting 6.4 and 2.2 per game, respectively.

Catch and shoot threes accounted for more than 76 percent of their attempts as they averaged 1.9 and 4.2 per game, respectively, last season. Spoelstra hasn’t changed how he uses power forwards this season, as Igoudala and Kelly Olynyk have taken more than 70 percent of their field goals from behind the arc in their first nine games this season, averaging 3.1 and 6.9 per season, respectively.

Catch and shoots were responsible for over 83 percent of those attempts. The floor spacer role is an excellent fit for Tucker on the surface as he has converted 39.3 percent of his catch and shoot threes since the 2013-14 season on 3 attempts per game.

However, Miami’s power forwards took over 50 percent of their 3-point attempts from above the break last season. Iguodala and Crowder attempted 1.1 and 4.6 above the break threes per game, respectively, during the 2019-20 season.

Miami’s power forwards have continued to shoot above-the-break threes at a high clip this season. Iguodala and Olynyk have attempted 1.3 and 6 above the break threes per game, respectively, this season. Above-the-break attempts have accounted for 41.9 and 86.9 percent of their threes over the first nine games.

Unfortunately, Tucker has only taken 24.2 percent of his threes from above the break since the 2013-14 season averaging 0.8 per game. He has made 31.8 percent of the attempts. Tucker is more comfortable taking corner threes as he has converted 38.7 percent of those field goals since the 2013-14 season on 2.4 attempts per game. Corner threes accounted for more than 71 percent of his attempts.

P.J. Tucker doesn’t fit the Miami Heat’s offensive approach

Unfortunately, Miami’s forwards attempt fewer corner threes than Tucker.  Crowder attempted 2.0 per game last season, 31.3 of his total attempts. Furthermore, Olynyk and Iguodala attempted 0.78 and 1.55 corner threes per game respectively in their first nine games. Corner threes were responsible for their 11.3 and 50 percent of their attempts respectively.

Therefore, the Heat would be better off pursuing other options first like a Harrison Barnes trade as he excels on catch and shoot and above-the-break threes. Barnes has converted 37.8 percent of his catch and shoot threes since the 2013-14 season on 2.9 attempts per game.

He has also made 35.7 percent of his above the break since the 2013-14 season on 2.3 attempts. If the Sacramento Kings don’t make Harrison Barnes available, they should move on to Otto Porter Jr.

Porter has converted 42.2 percent of his catch and shoots since 2013-14 on 3 attempts per game. Furthermore, Porter has shot 39.9 percent on above the break threes since 2013 on 2.4 attempts per game.

More importantly, the team won’t have to give a lot of assets to acquire either player. Barnes was traded for Zach Randolph and Justin Jackson in February of 2019. On the other hand, Porter has been plagued with injuries over the last two seasons. Porter only appeared in 56 games during the 2018-19 season due to various injuries. For example, he missed the final 11 games with a strained right shoulder.

Porter continued to deal with injuries as a broken left foot led to him only playing 14 games. Their past could lead to the Miami Heat acquiring one of them for Kendrick Nunn and Igoudala as salary filler.

Although Tucker appears to be a great fit on the surface, his struggles shooting above the break says otherwise.