5 trade targets the Warriors, Lakers and Suns might all be bidding for
By Ian Levy
2. P.J. Tucker, Forward, Los Angeles Clippers
P.J. Tucker is reportedly dissatisfied with his playing time since being traded to the Clippers and could be shopped to a contender looking for frontcourt help. He's lost a lot of his defensive versatility and his 3-point shooting has cratered since the trade but he was still a roughly 40 percent 3-point shooter in his one-and-a-little-bit-more seasons with the 76ers. He can still make a defensive impact on 4s and his veteran experience would be an asset to any of these three teams.
The challenge with Tucker is his salary — just over $11 million this season with a player option for next season at roughly the same number. That means the Lakers, Warriors or Suns would need to be okay with the cap implications for next season and come up with slightly more in matching salaries while also navigating the Clippers' desire to avoid helping a potential championship obstacle too much.
The Lakers could theoretically build a deal around Rui Hachimura and try to pry an additional piece like the lightly used Bones Hyland along with Tucker. The Warriors would need to use Gary Payton II, Cory Joseph and hopefully throw in a future pick to seal the deal. For the Suns, a deal would probably have to be Nassir Little, Bol Bol and Keita Bates-Diop with a futue pick attached. It's not clear that either of those last two offers would be enough for the Clippers or, in the case of the Suns, be a clear upgrade. But both teams will at least need to sniff around.