Not sure whats going on in here but PJ is 100% a situational bench player and has been since 2018, the last time he was part of the Death Lineup. Its very hard to value a guy who gives 100% always, but another guy's 90% is better. 8/10 on defense and a 2/10 on offense = 5/10 on defense and a 5/10 on offense, that's just how it goes. I'd rather give a higher ceiling guy starter minutes.
They are paying that man, 8 million dollars this year. Pretty good for a bench quality player. Tucker is currently the 152nd highest paid player in the NBA and last year he scored the 194th most points in the league. Fair pay given his current output, arguably more than fair.
I wish we could lock down a PJ and franchise friendly deal. A declining contract of some sort. A way to pay PJ, but also help the team out in that 3rd year. 3 years - 12-9-6 for a total of 27 million sort of thing.
I like the sound of what PJ is saying. Again, I am not desperate to get rid of him. If he accepts a reasonable contract, a one-year extension, with a team option for a second year, would be a reasonable thing to do. But if he overvalues himself too much, it won't work because he will be unhappy either with the contract or with a potentially diminishing role as age catches up to him.
3rd year he would be 38 and making 6 million bucks. Started playing NBA basketball at 27 or whatever. This isn't Luol Deng we are talking about. He has only played 655 career games.
He is 35. At the end of his contract, he will be 36. 3 more years, he will be 39. It's not like he didn't play competitive basketball before he turned 27. 38 is ancient for an NBA player. Even if he keeps the current level of performance (which is very unlikely, I cannot remember any NBA player who did not decline significantly between age 35 and 39 - speed/performance goes down, injury risk goes up), I don't think he would be worth 9 million per year on average. It's just unrealistic. 1 year guaranteed at 8 million or less, then a team option to extend for another year at the same terms. That would be the absolute max I would offer him (and even that only if Harden stays for the duration of PJ's extension, there is no point of having him without Harden), and my guess is that the Rockets see it the same way and that there is no other team that would offer more. I can understand he wants to get as much as possible, feels like he made less than lesser players in the past, wants to be rewarded for the past, wants to feel empowered, has a family, needs more shoes, etc. - all fine, but sorry, I cannot feel too sorry for someone who makes 8 million a year, just because there are other guys who are making even more. As a fan, I understand that the overall spend is capped, and therefore I have an interest in salaries being allocated efficiently. Just because I would like to see the team I support be successful - not because I would care about the owner saving money or something like that.
Dude's getting worried over 6 million when Harden will likely(either way) be gone is a trip to me. @RudyTBag That's a good deal. It really is.
LOL - AB was playing great then 20ppg and 7 assists......his career was side tracked by Manu Ginobli's lingering foot. I did like Maggette - he was just ok in the end......but hey man, I was on the Yao train first, I was on the Harden train, you can't win them all - but you just got to keep on SWINGING...... DD
Traditionally you take the age at the beginning of the year, not the end. I think with his role, work ethic and significantly lesser mileage amongst his peers, PJ will be effective for another 3 years. I could see him mirroring someone like Jason Kidd, who was extremely effective as a defender and spot up shooter until he retired at 39-40. I wonder If he would go for a: 36 - 10 37 - 7.5 38 - 5 39 - JJ Barea Payoff I find the culture he sets here to be extremely valuable. His ability to talk on defense and his day to day leadership when we start bringing in all these young Cats. That, and he still has clamps when it is playoff time and is still one of the best corner shooters in the NBA.
PJ had a bad first game, looking slow and out of sync, but to say that this one game is a sign of his decline is short sigthed, He was still our best defender in the playoffs, still hit key corner 3's when needed and still had that nose for the ball to win 50/50 plays (such as grab a loose ball or offensive rebound) at opportune times. Now, if he consistently plays like that first game, then ok, we can say he is old and over the hill, but so far, I see no sustained evidence of that being the case. If Harden stays and we still have championship aspirations, you try to extend PJ. Edit: Also, there are very few players that have the ability to guard all 5 spots, and he is one of them. He is fast and smart enough to stay with faster guards, while being strong enough to bang down low with bruising centers. This is a rare trait that few players possess. Not even players like Covington and Ariza can say they can switch and still bang with Nurkic, for example.
You are brutal . I don't think I have ever seen @aelliott on the wrong side of an argument here on this site. I even just spent a few minutes trying to find something, but couldn't. One of my favourite posters. To be fair to DD, other than yourself, you could probably find some ridiculous posts from pretty much every long-time poster here when you go back 20 years. Myself most definitely included.
