Miami Heat Rumors: Should they give up a young guy for P.J. Tucker?

The Miami Heat are right in the middle of all the hottest trade rumors it seems, as they have been for the last several years. Even more than usual though this season, it seems that whenever a player’s name comes up as possibly being on the move or disgruntled, the Miami Heat are instantly linked to them.

Prior to this next guy officially being let out of his current situation, he was a topic of Miami Heat talk, at least for the fans. Well, officially and on the record, P.J. Tucker and the Houston Rockets are on the outs.

Via NBA reporter, Tim McMahon, it has been revealed over the last few days that they are working on getting Tucker out of there in Houston. Along with that reporting and according to NBA reporter Shams Charnia of The Athletic (subscription required), the Houston Rockets would want a younger player in return for Tucker.

The question then is this. Should the Miami Heat be willing to move a younger player for Tucker’s services?

The Miami Heat could use P.J. Tucker in their lineup, but at the cost of a young player?

They should, but they probably won’t. Here’s the reasoning.

He’s worth a younger player, definitely, but that’s if you deem what Tucker could potentially give you for the next two and a half seasons to be more valuable than what said young guy could give you in that same amount of time. Then, you have to look at the guys you’re choosing from to make that choice.

When you look at the Miami Heat, the guys they’ll probably be asking for are Precious Achiuwa or KZ Okpala. You don’t do the deal for either of those guys.

If they were asking for any combination of Chris Silva, Max Strus, or Gabe Vincent, you consider it, but it’s still not a definite then. That particular case likely ends up with Tucker being in Miami though and that would be the right move.

The Miami Heat should be willing to deal to land a guy like Tucker. He can help them tremendously.

Again, they have to be sure they are getting back equal or better value on whatever they sending out though. That’s the ultimate deciding factor when weighing giving up the potential and upside of a young player, even for a hand in glove fit like P.J. Tucker.