Making sense of P.J. Tucker trade for Bucks, Rockets

Though the NBA’s trade deadline isn’t until next week, it’s safe to say that on Wednesday evening the first big move of the season was made.

The Milwaukee Bucks, in a bid to help fortify their apparent all-in playoff push this season, reportedly swung a deal to acquire P.J. Tucker from the Houston Rockets.

And, in a separate move, the Bucks are sending Torrey Craig to the Phoenix Suns.

A little foggy about the trade details, here’s how the full transaction shakes out:

• Bucks acquire from Rockets P.J. Tucker, Rodions Kurucs and 2022 first-round pick (that was originally theirs to begin with).
• Rockets acquire from Bucks D.J. Augustin, D.J. Wilson, 2023 unprotected first-round pick and a right to pick swap their 2021 second-round draft pick for the Bucks’ first-rounder (unless Milwaukee’s pick falls between Nos. 1-9).
• Suns acquire from Bucks Torrey Craig in separate transaction from the Bucks-Rockets trade.

Homing in on the perspectives of the Bucks and Rockets, here’s a closer look at Wednesday night’s big trade.

Milwaukee Bucks

For the Bucks, as mentioned off the top, this move to add P.J. Tucker furthers their obvious goal of trying to at least make it past the Eastern Conference Final and, hopefully, win it all with Giannis Antetokounmpo still in his prime.

As you may remember, the Bucks leveraged a significant part of their future to acquire Jrue Holiday for this season. Milwaukee did this despite the fact Holiday is likely poised to enter free agency this summer, and this deal for Tucker is similar.

Tucker will become an unrestricted free agent in the summer, meaning, for now, he’s just a short-term rental to help Milwaukee in its playoff pursuit this season. The price tag the Bucks paid for Tucker is also much more palatable than the package needed to acquire Holiday, as they get back a first-rounder that was theirs to begin with in 2022, and figure to only move down a little bit in this year’s draft as the pick swap with Houston will likely see them pick near the top of the second round instead of the bottom of the first round – a difference that seems rather negligible.

Of course, even if the price was right to acquire Tucker, there’s no guarantee that this will work out for the Bucks the way they expect.

Yes, Tucker has a proven track record as an elite three-and-D role player. He’s a career 35.9 per cent three-point shooter and is capable of guarding all five positions in a pinch, but with Milwaukee he’ll likely be asked to lock up opposing teams’ top wing options.

The issue lies in the fact Tucker is 35 (turning 36 in the middle of the NBA playoffs) and has had a decidedly uninspiring season: He reported to Rockets training camp late and expressed displeasure with the state of the franchise, as the team was also working through drama with Russell Westbrook and James Harden’s departures.

The root of Tucker’s irritation was likely his contract situation, as he and Houston couldn’t come to an amicable extension figure, and then, after the Harden trade that saw Houston go completely off the rails, it became clear that Tucker would be looking for a change of scenery to a contender.

He got his wish, but he’s also shooting career lows in field-goal percentage (36.6 per cent) and three-point percentage (31.4 per cent), meaning he’ll need to really amp up his game to make this acquisition worth it for Milwaukee.

Should he return to his old elite role-player self, the Bucks will be that much more dangerous, particularly on the defensive end with players all over their starting lineup capable of defending multiple positions. Additionally, with Tucker’s reliable corner three-point stroke, the botched job the Bucks did with Bogdan Bogdanovic will be redeemed slightly as they’ve found the extra shooter they thought they were getting before their Bogdanovic transaction went south.

There’s little reason to doubt Tucker’s professionalism in that he’ll give it his all with the Bucks, but his age is a concern. If Milwaukee made this move for a Tucker who was two or three years younger it would be a slam dunk. Now, however, it doesn’t feel quite as sure a thing.

Houston Rockets

From Houston’s point of view, they were in a bad situation and seemed to have made the most out of it by acquiring an unprotected first-round pick in 2023.

The pick swap is also a nice little move as it all but guarantees they get another first-round pick in this year’s draft to bring that total to three (the pick they got from the Portland Trail Blazers in the Robert Covington transaction, this pick swap with Milwaukee and either their own top-four protected pick or the option to swap their pick with the Heat’s from the Thunder’s three-way swap rights).

Given how disastrous things have gone, getting more chances at landing a star of some kind in the draft to pair with John Wall will be important for the Rockets, who have lost 17 straight games and own the third-worst record in the NBA.

The Rockets, for the most part, have successfully managed to tear down their team to give themselves a fresh slate for the future. What they do now will depend entirely on what general manager Rafael Stone and his front office can do with the draft picks they’ve acquired — using them either in drafts or as trade capital.

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