PJ Tucker tells the story of how he was cut by the Raptors as a Rookie

[Bankai]

The rumour at the time was that Tucker had a fight with Rasho Nesterovic, and was waived for it. Tucker finally explains how hard it was for him to be at the bottom of the pecking order in an NBA team, and what caused him to get released:

Watch on YouTube

[HumbleRen]

Great story, glad he turned it around for himself.

[tecumseh18]

Yeah, we all heard the Rasho rumour. But PJ doesn't really explain what happened in detail. Just that he wasn't professional about not getting playing time. That could have included a fight with a teammate.

But I've been in that exact situation at the beginning of my career, where no-one in the organization was willing to mentor me. I didn't react well to it. And I was in my mid-20s, probably five years older than PJ in 06-07.

Oh well, at least he got paid, and continues to get paid, in his career. He's talked favourable about his second time in Toronto lately, calling it a perfect situation that he left to go to Houston. Does he talk more about it in other parts of this interview?

[720]

Since we're talking about PJ, when he took less money to go to Houston (he literally took a longer term deal with less money than what we offered) it was said at the time that he did that because he wanted to play with his close friend CP3 and that he wanted to play for a true contender.

I year or two after that Jared Dudley on twitter talked about how difficult it is for Americans to play in Canada and that he got this information from PJ , who let him know that was the reason he left. So it's weird that a guy would play 4 years all throughout Europe but couldn't handle Canada if America was an option. Makes sense I guess but still.

[Jcity08]

That was a good listen, its interesting hearing his perspective on why he got cut and im glad he turned it around since then. He seems like a great vet now helping guide rookies to not follow his footsteps.

[And1Skip]

I remember that time when PJ got waived late in the season. BC then picked up Luke Jackson

[tecumseh18]

Since we're talking about PJ, when he took less money to go to Houston (he literally took a longer term deal with less money than what we offered) it was said at the time that he did that because he wanted to play with his close friend CP3 and that he wanted to play for a true contender.

I year or two after that Jared Dudley on twitter talked about how difficult it is for Americans to play in Canada and that he got this information from PJ , who let him know that was the reason he left. So it's weird that a guy would play 4 years all throughout Europe but couldn't handle Canada if America was an option. Makes sense I guess but still.

Read on Twitter

Dudley isn't suggesting that it's an automatic deal-killer, but I'm sure the zero-tax situation in Texas played a role. PJ's take-home pay would have been higher in Texas. As I said above, PJ recently described leaving a "perfect situation" in Toronto to go to Houston (where he was then abandoned).

[720]

Since we're talking about PJ, when he took less money to go to Houston (he literally took a longer term deal with less money than what we offered) it was said at the time that he did that because he wanted to play with his close friend CP3 and that he wanted to play for a true contender.

I year or two after that Jared Dudley on twitter talked about how difficult it is for Americans to play in Canada and that he got this information from PJ , who let him know that was the reason he left. So it's weird that a guy would play 4 years all throughout Europe but couldn't handle Canada if America was an option. Makes sense I guess but still.

Read on Twitter

Dudley isn't suggesting that it's an automatic deal-killer, but I'm sure the zero-tax situation in Texas played a role. PJ's take-home pay would have been higher in Texas. As I said above, PJ recently described leaving a "perfect situation" in Toronto to go to Houston (where he was then abandoned).

Damn for real? Where did he mention that?

[Reeko]

Was anyone disappointed for more than 24 hours when he signed with Houston? He's a solid role player, but he was never a ceiling raiser by any stretch. More than anything I think this guy just prefers warm weather cities. Ultimately it was luxury tax issues that led to the Bucks not re-signing him, but he inked his deal with Miami on the first day of free agency, and I wouldn't be surprised if that was actually his preference all along.

[Dennis 37]

I think Lou Williams' lifestyle was too much for the Raptors.

[Kahn_2001]

PJ is a fake tough guy who wastes millions on shoes like a diva. Hated him in his second stint with the raptors and was glad he didn't come back. Glorified scrub who has a cult like following by the likes of the insufferable Doris Burke in the media that claim he's a great glue guy.

He's very high on my athletes most likely to go broke after retirement list.


Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[Scott Hall]

Used to love him as a rookie (who remembers hammer and nails? lol) but he's become a punk and an overrated
role player that's a non difference maker. He's 36 so glad he will be out of the league soon so he'll stop trashing
our city and organization to the sheep like players out there although thanks for saving us from Jared Dudley lol

[Elmago]

PJ is a fake tough guy who wastes millions on shoes like a diva. Hated him in his second stint with the raptors and was glad he didn't come back. Glorified scrub who has a cult like following by the likes of the insufferable Doris Burke in the media that claim he's a great glue guy.

He's very high on my athletes most likely to go broke after retirement list.


Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

while i agree the shoe obsession is ridiculous this is a bit extreme lol. I liked PJ he always plays hard, and he was the only reason the Rockets worked defensively.

[tms]

Was anyone disappointed for more than 24 hours when he signed with Houston? He's a solid role player, but he was never a ceiling raiser by any stretch. More than anything I think this guy just prefers warm weather cities. Ultimately it was luxury tax issues that led to the Bucks not re-signing him, but he inked his deal with Miami on the first day of free agency, and I wouldn't be surprised if that was actually his preference all along.

Not sure about his preferences but I don't think it's fair to assume he's just a warm weather guy. In the interview he says he loved his new deal in Russia and would've happily stayed there had his wife and agent not pushed him to opt out and come back to Phoenix. He admits it was the right move in retrospect but doesn't mention anything about the weather (or taxes/money for that matter). He just wanted to play. I wouldn't dumb him down to Bosh-level ignorance.

[ratul]

love tuck since we drafted him. Really thought he was going to be huge for us but I see his point - we had bargs, vince, bosh and that whole thing going on.

[tecumseh18]

Dudley isn't suggesting that it's an automatic deal-killer, but I'm sure the zero-tax situation in Texas played a role. PJ's take-home pay would have been higher in Texas. As I said above, PJ recently described leaving a "perfect situation" in Toronto to go to Houston (where he was then abandoned).

Damn for real? Where did he mention that?

OK, not a "perfect" situation, but a great situation. This was from a piece in the Athletic a few months ago.

While he was watching Paul find success in Phoenix and Harden join a super team in Brooklyn, Tucker was marooned in Houston with one of the league’s worst teams.

“I was low,” Tucker said. “It was low. I did not enjoy that. I gave up so much. Like players put that together, guys getting together, talking, and I left a great situation I was in Toronto, other situations I had, other deals, other offers. I left a lot on the table to be a part of that, so in the end, to be last and be there, to have to deal with what I dealt with them leaving as well, that was, I don’t know if it was the lowest (point in my career), but it was low. It wasn’t good.”

[anotherhomer]

I think Lou Williams' lifestyle was too much for the Raptors.

also a bad influence on their younger players
notably T-Ross who knocked up a stripper

[bbalnation]

Its silly that the organization took that long to point it out to him as a player, didn't give him a chance to correct his actions as a young player, then cut him immediately despite that pent up hunger (you saw 5 teams in 4 years w success everywhere).

BC- i know you're reading this... you missed out on a great player. If you had a player-focused system set up like Masai and many other GMs do- you would have had PJ in his solid years.

Neat PJ takes accountability either way though.

[UnRealGM]

imagine getting called into a meeting at work and all your bosses and leaders are there, and they have a monitor there showing your browsing history...

[StopitLeo]

I didn't know where the story was going to go so I'm impressed that he owned his behaviour.

I have always hated that pick though. At the time the team had the same weakness for several years - rebounding. Instead of drafting a guy who led the NCAA in rebounding for 3 consecutive years (Millsap) they decided to pick Tucker.