Why This Trade Makes Sense For The Los Angeles Lakers
PJ Tucker being added to the Los Angeles Lakers at the expense of Alex Caruso and Kyle Kuzma is a major upgrade for LeBron James’ bunch in their quest to win back-to-back titles. Not only could Tucker help them a lot in terms of defensive effort and take a lot of pressure off of Anthony Davis defensively, but Tucker is a better three-point shooter than Kuzma and Caruso.
He is one of the better corner three-point shooters in all of the league and would play his role of a “3-and-D” forward perfectly with Los Angeles. Last season, PJ Tucker averaged 6.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.1 steals and shot 41.5% from the floor, 35.8% from three-point range.
While his stats will not blow you away and seem to be very unimpressive, a lot of what Tucker does on the court does not show up on any stat sheets. His competitiveness and defensive tenacity makes him one of the better defensive players in the NBA and his versatility allows him to guard any position on the court.
The Lakers already have a fairly deep frontcourt with Anthony Davis, Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell, but bringing in PJ Tucker does not mean anybody’s minutes will be drastically cut. Los Angeles already plays a brand of “positionless” basketball in a way as they do not really have positions out on the court, they all have roles.
Tucker’s role with the Lakers would mainly be on the defensive end of the court as he can guard any team’s best player, whether they are a guard, wing, or big man. With Davis mainly taking the responsibility of guarding a team’s best interior player, Tucker would have no problem stepping up and guarding guys like Kawhi Leonard and Damian Lillard, two foes the Lakers will have to beat on their way to the NBA Finals.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been no strangers to trying to improve their roster any opportunity they get and this is just another small move that could pay off with yet another championship. You know what you are getting with P.J. Tucker and while trading away Kuzma and a first-round pick may hurt the Lakers down the road, all that matters for them now is winning as many titles as they can.
