P.J. Tucker thrilled to join the Miami Heat, and Victor Oladipo officially re-signs
Forward P.J. Tucker signed his two-year, $15 million deal with the Heat on Saturday, giving Miami a skilled defender and corner three-point shooter to split the power forward job with Markieff Morris.
“When you’re a free agent, you’re looking for a fit, coaching styles, team styles, and this [team] is exactly what I do,” Tucker said. “Last year, I trained in Miami. So this has been a long time coming. I’m super excited.”
Tucker averaged 3.7 points and 3.9 rebounds and shot 33.6 percent from three-point range for Houston and Milwaukee last season.
He was exceptional defensively as a starting power forward in Milwaukee’s run to the NBA Finals.
He said Bam Adebayo “is my guy, a North Carolina guy, known him for a while. Being able to do what he does is unbelievable - guarding one through five, his energy every night on the glass. When you’ve got a center that can do all those things. He makes the game easier for a lot of people.”
He said of the Heat’s outlook in the East: “I like our chances. I like our team. We have a tough team with guys that get after it. It’s going to be fun. You look at our roster, we’re going to be a tough, gritty team, guys that play two-ways, can switch multiple positions. More than anything, I can see us being united. Guys who are like minded and play the same way. If you have a bunch of guys like that on the same team, you have special things happening.”
Tucker said “I’ve guarded Jimmy Butler for years now and everyone knows his competitive edge. He brings it every single night. He’s going to bring that mentality to the team and that’s by far the No. 1 thing I’m excited about playing with Jimmy.”
Pat Riley called Tucker “the perfect addition to this team. He brings both shooting and most importantly, the ability to defend a lot of perimeter players. We love his versatility in order to put a defensive team on the court, where all five guys can defend, while also having enough shooting and scoring to win games.”
The Heat has announced all signings except Udonis Haslem, which is expected. That would give the Heat 14 players under contract. Miami can sign as many as 15 players to standard contract and can sign two players to two-way contracts.
OLADIPO SIGNS
The Heat also announced Saturday the re-signing of guard Victor Oladipo, who agreed to return to Miami on a one-year minimum deal worth about $2.4 million
“We really like Victor’s versatility and how he impacts the game in multiple ways,” Riley said in a statement. “His speed skill set fits perfectly into the core we have built.”
Oladipo, 29, was traded to the Heat in March but played in just four games with Miami before feeling discomfort in his right knee and eventually undergoing surgery to repair the quadriceps tendon in the knee on May 13. He ruptured that same tendon in January 2019 before returning a year later in January 2020.
Oladipo is not expected to be ready for the start of the upcoming season, but there’s some hope that he’ll be cleared to return to full contact basketball as early as November and be able to play in games by March.
This story was originally published August 7, 2021 at 1:18 PM.
