The Houston Rockets are holding out veteran forward P.J. Tucker as they seek a resolution, and the Miami Heat make sense as Tucker’s next potential destination, per ESPN insider Bobby Marks.
Tucker is due to make $7.97 million this season. That is slightly larger than the $7.53 million trade exception the Heat received as part of last year’s James Johnson trade.
“They have a trade exception that’s not enough to take the Tucker contract in,” Marks said in an Instagram video Thursday. “But they do have an Avery Bradley contract that’s $5.6 million. He’s got a team option for next year. Miami could potentially add a second-round pick to it. But does Avery Bradley make sense for Houston?”
Per Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, speculation suggests the Rockets would actually be seeking a young player as part of a deal for Tucker. But Marks indicated that ain’t happening.
“The Heat are not going to trade Duncan Robinson or Tyler Herro for three months of P.J. Tucker,” Marks said. “That does not make sense at all. If I was in the front office in Houston, I wouldn’t even ask for that. I mean, it’s kind of a little bit of an insult. It’s kind of like, if I’m (Heat president) Pat Riley, I’m basically kind of hanging up the phone here.”
Along with Tucker, the Heat have been linked to San Antonio Spurs forward/center LaMarcus Aldridge. Like Tucker, Aldridge is being held out by his team.
The Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets have all made overtures to the Rockets about Tucker, Winderman relayed.
“We’re going to try to figure out something that works for him and works for us as far as him not being on the team anymore,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said.
Tucker, 35, doesn’t score much (4.4 ppg) but is considered one of the league’s most versatile defenders. At 6-foot-5, has has proven capable of also filling in at power forward when needed.
