– I can’t share the sentiment that PJ is washed. But what is he?
– PJ is yet another player whose value largely doesn’t come from traditional stats but rather from the little things he does well. Or not so little like defensive rotations, box outs and decision-making. However, he’s an offensive liability even IF PJ were to play in the better lineups only. His defensive value depends on whom he’s replacing and who he’s on the court with (if the team plays flat, the energy, physicality and hustle he brings is much more valuable than if he were to sub in for TMann or Russ).
– Even without taking this into details, PJ to me is not washed, at the same time he seems best-suited to play next to Theis, play with bench units and playing either situationally or limited minutes (his DBPM is a neutral and his VORP -0.1). While those latter stats are even in the range of Mann, Amir and Theis, PJ’s OBPM is far, far worse and it ain’t a reach to speculate that won’t improve by that much even if he were to exclusively play alongside Theis and in second units. He’s an option at the 4 where we’re thin but if we include small ball 4s, Kobe is the only guy he competes with. After Kawhi and PG, Amir and Russ are clearly better small ball 4s, by those stats and lots of others.

PJ ain’t an injury insurance for Kawhi/PG either as he doesn’t fit with Zubac. In almost every case he should be considered as the guy off the bench, not to fill-in as a starter. The only exception where he was a positive with (some) starters was a very flexible/switchable unit of Harden/PG/Kawhi/PJ/Russ that forced a ton of turnovers and is pretty difficult to attack. That’s the situational alternative to playing next to Theis, switchable, physical small ball units where he could also fit next to Coffey, Mann and Norm – but in most cases won’t be the first choice to be considered.

So in conclusion, I agree with both sides: sitting PJ for that long was somewhat excessive. He got more of a case when factoring in his track record as a player. That being said, he’s NOT good enough on offense or as a general fit to demand a lot more minutes or playing over others (even Kobe has comparable lineup/advanced stats plus a much higher potential).

I can’t fault PJ much for saying something but I can’t fault the coaches much either for not playing him more. He deserved a chance here and there earlier. A chance, like 10 minutes in half a dozen extra games maybe? Not worth the fuzz/more than one or two comments from him. Blowing this topic up won’t have any winners so I do like how the team has handled it and PJ himself should stick to uttering his opinion internally – he ain’t got a case until he takes like at least 3-4 shots regularly when he plays and punishes teams for not guarding him at a reasonable rate. No issues whatsoever with him taking 9 shots and failing. Got a much bigger issue with him taking 0 shots multiple games in a row.

I’ve looked at some facts and this stems from the discrepancy between a) the comments in here b) how I perceived PJ Tucker prior to this season (as an absolute professional who infuriates me by not taking any shots) c) PJ’s own comments and d) wildly varying observations about his performances this season. Tried to make sense of it. To point d) first, here’s PJ’s lineup data per 100 possessions:

5-men lineups: +23.8 on the Sixers; 3 lineups between -33.7 and -40.4; what do they have in common? A frontline of PJ next to Zu; a +34.8 lineup and other small sample size positive lineups

4-men data: 9 of 10 lineups are clear positives (+12.9 to +50.5). The exception is PJ next to PG, Kawhi and Harden (-16.2)

3-men data: 9 of 10 between +11.5 and +36.4. The exception is PJ next to Norm and Russ (-3.3).

2-men combos: what stands out is Tucker next to Zu -26.8 as opposed to PJ/Theis +31.8. Differences are lower turnover, fewer fouls, more assists, better shooting etc. Spacing, movement and passing basically being much more important than size next to PJ.

Gonna follow it up but gotta go

I wanted both those guys and now I’m relieved we didn’t go that direction.

Wenyen Gabriel however? How was he not signed as soon as Harden came over?

That’s Exhibit A as to why Scott Foster is generally a d**k. Let the kid have his moment, ffs.