HOUSTON – Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed free agent forward P.J. Tucker. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
A six-year veteran, Tucker was originally the 35th overall pick by Toronto in the 2006 NBA Draft. Following his rookie season with the Raptors, Tucker spent the next five years playing overseas and won a championship in both Israel and Germany.
Since returning to the NBA in 2012-13, Tucker has appeared in 401 of a possible 410 games with 290 starts. Over the past four seasons for Phoenix and most recently Toronto, Tucker averaged 8.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.36 steals in 30.0 minutes per game. Only three other players (Greg Monroe, Markieff Morris, and Nerlens Noel) averaged at least 8.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, and 1.00 spg in 30.0 or fewer mpg over that span.
Tucker has received multiple votes for NBA All-Defensive team in three of the past four seasons. He also has more steals (503) than turnovers (448) for his career. Tucker grabbed double-digit rebounds 10 times in 2016-17 and was one of nine players listed 6’6” or shorter to have averaged at least 5.0 boards. He also hit multiple 3-pointers 22 times this past season.