Friday, February 8, 2013
Suns found a bargain in Tucker
By Nick Borges
P.J. Tucker signed a partially guaranteed two-year minimum contract with the Phoenix Suns last July and it has turned out to be one of their best free agent deals of 2012.
“That was a great find,” head coach Lindsey Hunter tells The Arizona Republic. “You look at a guy like that and the impact he has made not only on our team but the league, and that has to be one of the great moves of the season for any team. We’ve put P.J. on one through five (point guard through center). He’s guarded everybody in the league and has done a good job. We expect that from him. I still challenge him to get in the gym and shoot 1,000 corner 3s because that’s where he is going to get the bulk of his shots, but he has been great for us.”
Tucker has now started 19 games this season and he's averaging 31 minutes since Hunter took over as the head coach. For the season Tucker is averaging just 5.4 points and 3.9 rebounds, however as Hunter explained, the forwards biggest commodity is the ability to guard most of the positions on the floor.
Tucker's $788,872 salary for 2013-14 becomes fully guaranteed at the beginning of July.
