Clippers role player exercises option for 2024-25

Clippers forward P.J. Tucker is exercising his player option for 2024-25, locking in his $11.54M salary for next season, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Confirming the news, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that Tucker has formally picked up that option.

Long viewed as a valuable role player on contending teams, Tucker found himself out of the Clippers’ rotation for much of the 2023-24 season after being acquired along with James Harden in the fall. He appeared in just 28 regular season games for Los Angeles, averaging 1.6 points and 2.5 rebounds in 15.0 minutes per contest, and wasn’t used until Game 5 of the club’s first-round playoff series vs. Dallas.

Tucker was a tough, switchable frontcourt defender during his best years in Houston. He was quick to guard out to the perimeter and strong enough to match up against bigger players. He was also a threat to knock down corner threes on offense.

Now 39 years old, Tucker is no longer as effective as a three-and-D threat and doesn’t command serious attention from opposing defenses — he averaged just 1.6 shot attempts per game in 2023-24. As such, it’s unsurprising that he decided to opt in, guaranteeing a payday of $11.54M.

It’s unclear whether or not Tucker will open the season on the Clippers’ roster. Now that he has picked up his option, he looks like a logical trade candidate for Los Angeles (like Reggie Jackson was in Denver after opting in). But the team has many moving parts this offseason, including figuring out whether Paul George, Harden, and/or Russell Westbrook will be back, so there may not be a resolution on Tucker right away.