Grade the trade: Tucker to Raptors

[jeff2020]

It is what is it is. Obviously nobody was really offering much for anything at the deadline. 2 2nd rounders is fine I guess. Literally just completely indifferent about this trade. On one hand the young guys get more run and on the other we might really miss the intensity that potentially will rub off on the younger players.

C grade for me. Nothing to get excited about at all

[jcsunsfan]

Raptors players were happy.

They should be. It was a good trade for them. They are looking for short term playoff help. Tucker should fill that bill. The Suns are looking long term. Two picks, as low as they might be, also fill that bill.

[jcsunsfan]

What year are the picks??

17' and 18'

I think this draft is a great draft to have an extra second round pick. There is a very real possibility a good prospect will drop because of all the talent at the top.

[jcsunsfan]

Straight F. The stupidity surrounding the Suns organisation is off the charts yet again. Absolutely no sense in this trade, other than appealing to people whose single interest in basketball starts and ends with trades, the draft and fantasy games. These 2 picks make zero sense from a basketball standpoint and from the team's perspectives point as well. Can't understand FO's logic and end-game...to be bad on purpose to get ton of pointless picks (pointless, given how young this team is already), and to expect to sucessfully trade for a superwhiner. Well, superwhiners won't go to a bad team with a losing culture and full of unproven young guys.
On another note, I'm glad that Tucker got a chance for probably at least conference finals. A guy with his integrity, energy, leadership and will to give it all on the court deserves to taste success.

One the picks. Let's wait until after the draft and then we can evaluate the picks.

Yes. Tucker deserves a chance at success. The Suns FO thought so too. This was for his benefit as well. He is going to be a free agent and he will now get the playoffs to market himself. When a player has given you what Tucker has, you owe him that. This is his last shot at a contract, so it needs to be a good one.

[Qwigglez]

I am glad I don't have to hear... "Tucker from the couch!" anymore.

[Preacherpj]

A very solid B+ for me; I'm really not sure what people were expecting to get for Tucker -- maybe we could have packaged something with him... .but for Tucker individually this return is more than fine.

A couple things;

- 2nd round picks have real value, they are lottery tickets sure.... but they aren't the $1 scratch off tickets - smart organizations pluck good players in the second round, they can also be used in future deals. The notion that they are useless is just incorrect.

- There is literally nothing to be gained by having Tucker on this roster for the remainder of the year; I'd argue that trading him for nothing (like literally NOTHING) could still be a net positive, we have to get our young guys as many mins as possible and we need to win or lose with those young guys doing the lifting. Winning with Tucker hurts the franchise is a double-whammy as it hurts the draft position (WHICH IS A BIG DEAL) and it keeps the young guys from getting those mins. In a contract year, I don't want to mess around with not playing Tucker and having him pout down the stretch.

- Going back to the return, Tucker is a 32 year old one-trick pony who is a UFA after this year; two 2nd round picks seems extremely fair to me.

[Moochthemonkey]

I give them a C+. It wasn't a fair value return, but of course the silver lining of moving forward in the rebuild through subtraction is a plus, and I especially applaud *where* PJ got traded too. I think the Tucker and Ibaka additions actually gives them a chance against Cleveland (akin to the level of chance as the Suns @ Lakers in 2010). But two late seconds?? how about a late second and one of Toronto's limited use prospects: Poetl, Siakham, Cabloco, Wright.

Sunsdeuce and SF88 must be hardcore celebrating somewhere.

[ATTL]

A
You can only get what people are offering and PJ was gone in 25 games. No one was offering a 1st otherwise we would have gotten one.
The Celtics will regret not parting with something when PJ is frustrating Thomas and their forwards in the playoffs.

[bon]

I give the trade an A++

[Scott Hall]

It's hard to get a 1st round pick for a soon to be 32 year old role player FA rental in what a lot of people are saying is a deep
draft and the best draft in a decade.

Plus most of you Suns fans are saying that the organization and fans love him and are gonna try hard to resign him so that
could scare some teams off.

[bwgood77]

It's hard to get a 1st round pick for a soon to be 32 year old role player FA rental in what a lot of people are saying is a deep
draft and the best draft in a decade.

Plus most of you Suns fans are saying that the organization and fans love him and are gonna try hard to resign him so that
could scare some teams off.

I don't think we will try hard to re-sign him. If he wants to come back and sign for less than market maybe. I definitely don't think we will re-sign him if we draft a SF like Jackson.

[Scott Hall]

It's hard to get a 1st round pick for a soon to be 32 year old role player FA rental in what a lot of people are saying is a deep
draft and the best draft in a decade.

Plus most of you Suns fans are saying that the organization and fans love him and are gonna try hard to resign him so that
could scare some teams off.

I don't think we will try hard to re-sign him. If he wants to come back and sign for less than market maybe. I definitely don't think we will re-sign him if we draft a SF like Jackson.

Yeah and if I'm PJ Tucker and I'm 32 years old and my stock has never been higher I want to get PAID in what will
be the last "big" contract of his career.

I know we have his bird rights but we got some serious cap problems coming up and if some team like Milwaukee or
Minnesota offers him a big pay day I'm sure he won't blink twice to take it.

[lilfishi22]

I didn't like the trade because I loved what he brought to this the team. Not because he's putting up 25 every night like Booker or coming through in the clutch like Bledsoe or grabbing 20 rebounds a night like Chandler. What he brought to the team are the intangibles. His haters will always bring up his the rare occasions where he missed the team bus or plane, or crying about every foul (most players do this) or errors he's made in the game which were supposedly lost us the game (what about game changing rebounds and steals?) or even the extreme DUI which CONSTANTLY gets brought up for reasons that just confound me. They will always bring up the shot he shouldn't have taken, the fast break he shouldn't have pushed or the 15 rebounds he SHOULDN'T have grabbed because coach gave him 32mins that night but the fact is, he brought more intensity and more focus to the court and practice than most of the guys on most teams. He's the kind of guy who will never get the credit or attention he deserves because he's neither flashy nor an integral part of an offense. He's consistently being lauded for pushing guys in practice and it's these practices which young players learn what kind of players they will come up against and who they'll have to face night in and night out. You could very easily say Booker and Warren wouldn't be the scorers they are today only 2-3 seasons into their careers had they not had a PJ being physical in practice on defense against them.

As for this trade, I definitely thought we could've gotten more for him. I gave it a C mainly because I thought PJ could've been better used elsewhere, this potentially opens up more minutes for our young guys and of course our tanking efforts. Those two seconds may or may not help but chances are, they probably won't yield much but we'll see. If The Mavs could've gotten Noel for Bogut, I'm sure we could've gotten more. For Toronto and PJ, I think it's great for them. They get a tough defender who has the ability to shoot the 3 and will be a solid addition to their team. PJ gets to go to a contender for the first time in his career and I think he deserving of it. I've talked about wanting to resign him after this season's done but after more thought, I hope he stays with in Toronto and continues helping their team.

I'm a PJ apologist and I make no apology for it.