Former Suns forward P.J. Tucker agrees to deal with Houston Rockets
Jul 2, 2017, 9:55 AM
Phoenix Suns' P.J. Tucker gestures after being called for a foul during the second half of the team's NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
(AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Former Phoenix Suns forward P.J. Tucker is reportedly moving on to his third NBA team.
Tucker has agreed to a four-year, $32M deal with the Rockets, league sources tell The Vertical. https://t.co/6w4j6B1YnL
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2017
The 32-year-old Tucker was the longest-tenured member of the Suns’ roster before he was traded in February to the Toronto Raptors for two second-round picks.
“I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t a tough day for me,” Tucker said the day of the trade. “Dropped some tears, changed my life — Phoenix has changed my life.”
Tucker will be joining All-Star point guard Chris Paul, who was traded from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Rockets, as a new member of the team. Paul reportedly was involved in the process of getting his friend Tucker to join, who reportedly turned down more money per year to play in Houston.
Chris Paul played big role getting friend PJ Tucker to HOU. Raps offered 3 yrs/$33M, Rockets deal is 4/$32M, partial guarantee in last year
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) July 2, 2017
Since joining the team, Tucker missed only eight games in four-plus seasons while providing constant energy to the Suns that made him a fan favorite.
He won the Dan Majerle Hustle Award five straight years.
In his last season, Tucker took a backseat to small forward T.J. Warren, who started ahead of Tucker to open the season. In the 2017 NBA Draft, the Suns selected Kansas small forward Josh Jackson fourth overall. Jackson figures to take Tucker’s spot on the roster as the team’s signature perimeter defender.
Phoenix has one more second-round pick on the way from Toronto in the deal. They used the 54th overall selection in this year’s draft on power forward Alec Peters.
