Soon after his arrival in the James Harden trade, PJ Tucker has found himself sidelined from the Los Angeles Clippers’ rotation.
Despite assurances from the team that he’ll feature in the playoffs, Tucker, who sought a trade before the deadline, deems this scenario unrealistic.
“I don’t know where it goes from here. I don’t know. I know what they think is going to happen. But I don’t think it happens like that. Just throw somebody in the playoffs in the second round,” Tucker said, per Shams Charania and Law Murray of The Athletic.
“‘Alright, now go do what you do.’ Don’t work like that,” Tucker added, emphasizing the challenges of thrusting a player into playoff action without regular-season preparation.
‘Just the realization to me, the fans and people have no idea really what’s going on, and what it’s like sitting and waiting to be traded and whatever because of decisions the front office has made,” he added.
“Where the player isn’t playing because of decisions and stuff that players aren’t able to talk about. You can’t say nothing about it. And sitting through that for someone like me, who’s been on, last six, seven years, legitimate teams.”
With limited playing time this season, Tucker’s contributions on the court have been minimal, averaging just 1.3 points and 2.9 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per game.
In a bid to address frustrations and recalibrate mindsets, the Clippers opted to send Tucker and teammate Bones Hyland home, missing a game against the Golden State Warriors.
