The New York Knicks are showing interest in the Phoenix Suns forward P.J. Tucker. Desperately needing help on the defensive end, the Knicks’ struggles continue. They’ve dropped from third in the Eastern Conference to tenth in the space of one week. Tucker would help provide that help on the defensive perimeter, especially with his ability to guard multiple positions.
P.J. Tucker is averaging 6.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, whilst shooting 33% from three.
Tucker is coming up to the end of a three year, $15.5 million deal inked in 2014. The last three years of Tucker’s time in Phoenix were spent under Knicks current head coach, Jeff Hornacek, making the move to New York more logical. However, the Knicks would likely have to give up some young pieces to acquire Tucker.
Fortunately, New York has various disposable pieces. The most likely candidate for the trade would be Kyle O’Quinn. The 26 year old center is having a career season averaging 6.2 points, and 5.5 rebounds whilst coming off the pine (14.7 and 13.1 per 36 minutes). O’Quinn would fit well for a young athletic Suns team as he’s demonstrated a solid athletic capability and willingness to run the floor.
Ultimately, the move would make the Suns a better team for the long run.
The Suns and Knicks could make a straight swap for Tucker and O’Quinn. To hold onto O’Quinn the Knicks would have to create a package deal involving Mindaugas Kuzminskas which seems unlikely. On the contrary, a package deal would free up minutes for players who have shown promise such as Marshall Plumlee or Justin Holiday.
Despite this, according to Ian Begley of ESPN, it doesn’t appear that any move is imminent. Phil Jackson will not rush to make the trade, but the Knicks front office has labelled Tucker as a potential trade target. With things slowly going down the drain, the Knicks need to do something if they want to save their season.
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