When evaluating a potential playoff series match-up between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat, could a major point of emphasis be as simple as one team has PJ Tucker and the other doesn’t?

At this point in the season, most definitely.

After he was perceived to be a high level role player with supreme defensive talent when joining Miami this off-season, the opinions have shifted dramatically in a positive direction. And rightfully so.

Simply, he can fill the shoes of whoever you ask him to, and he does it quite seamlessly.

When Bam Adebayo goes down to begin the month of December, who can takeover that back-line defensive task, while distributing on the offensive end on a similar level?

Oh, just PJ Tucker.

Who can emulate the mid-post that Jimmy Butler does when he goes down for continuous extended periods?

Oh, just PJ Tucker.

Who can raise the production of outside shooting when Duncan Robinson goes through slumps, Max Strus enters protocols, or there’s just limited perimeter players available?

Oh, just a 46.2% 3 point shooter named PJ Tucker, which ranks number one in percentage among the top 250 players in 3 point attempts per game.

To dive into that number a bit more, he’s shooting just under 47% from three on pure catch and shoot looks, while obtaining a 60.9% effective field goal percentage across the year. News flash: the reason this is so impressive is because attempts have risen, his role has gotten bigger, and the number of defensive eyes on him keep climbing.

Also, since he’s well known to be the catalyst of a corner specialist, 91.4% of his shots are coming from the corners, which is the highest mark of his career.

Many of these numbers are pretty absurd attached to Tucker’s play so far this season on the offensive end, but game film seems to be even more absurd.

Looking at the clip above, this is the new role for Tucker when Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler aren’t on the floor, and it’s something nobody could’ve predicted he’d be able to fill as a play-maker.

The ball is inserted into him inside that wing three, which pretty much triggers two things: Tucker play-making mode is activated with his back to the basket, and weak-side off-ball screening is going to be the main point of emphasis.

Tyler Herro looks to be setting Max Strus a screen to fly around the perimeter into a hand-off, but well, that would be too predictable in a Miami Heat offense, right?

Strus cuts back down baseline to reverse the hand-off the other way, as Herro rises up to the top of the key as a safety blanket. Two flash to Strus as they usually do, and he hits Tucker on that slip screen that he finds himself in so often.

From there, all Tucker needs is a 2 foot plant, a quick spring, and a one-hand floater that is becoming more of an offensive staple than his corner shooting that I brought up previously.

Of course it’s great to see that shot down low falling, but as I said before, the most intriguing part about that entire clip is the first 3 seconds. The offense being worked completely through Tucker with Adebayo and Butler on the sideline, and Lowry in the locker room, is not a temporary thing.

That’s a tool that Erik Spoelstra has found, and will not waste.

Here’s pretty much the same exact set except on the opposite side of the floor.

This time around, Omer Yurtseven is setting the end around screen for Strus to fly off of for the hand-off, yet the same outcome is found. Strus refuses it and cuts back-door, while Tucker throws a pass that pretty much sums up is unique new play-style this season.

But aside from the behind the back flashiness, one more thing stands out about Tucker here.

Go back and watch this play again, but focus on Tucker reading the floor. Jusuf Nurkic had to make a decision between finding Strus below the rim, stepping up to Yurtseven, or taking the gamble of playing the middle and betting on the recovery game.

Tucker smartly waits it out one extra second, which makes all the difference on plays like this, as Nurkic makes that predictable step up. As soon as he takes that step, Tucker hits Strus for the easy two, as no recovery can then be made.

That’s the definition of PJ Tucker. Waiting that extra second.

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But as much as we sit here and talk about the unpredictable nature of Tucker as an offensive threat, I’d say he’s been pretty predictable on the defensive end to say the least.

Looking at some one-on-one match-ups, he has held Giannis Antetokounmpo to 3 of 9 shooting this season, Khris Middleton and Nikola Vucevic to 1 of 8 shooting, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to a 1 of 4 night, Domantas Sabonis has gone 0 of 3, Karl Anthony Towns went 1 of 4, Jayson Tatum shot 0 for 3, and the list here can go on and on and on.

Of course stats like this can never tell the full story in general terms like this, but with Tucker, he forces top level talents like those guys to rough nights.

He takes up the match-up of the best player no matter what position they are, since as seen above, that’s as broad positionally as you can get. And when teams begin forcing him into switches off their star player, Erik Spoelstra than schemes it up to make him guard the screener, which ultimately won them a game against the Utah Jazz early this season.

He’s reliable, he’s versatile, and he’s a winner. And most of all, he’s an Erik Spoelstra schematic favorite in terms of the amount of places he can be plugged into on both ends of the floor.

PJ Tucker has stepped up at an incredible level as the Heat are enduring a very awkward time without their top level talent every single night. But at this moment in time, and when Miami enters post-season mode, I believe Tucker is top level talent.

Of course he’s not at the level of a Jimmy Butler or Bam Adebayo, but I’d say he’s equally as important. And well, I don’t believe that’s a controversial or debatable statement at this stage, which says a lot about what this guy has been able to do over the first 39 games of the season.

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0 points, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, and 1 rebound.

That was PJ Tucker’s stat-line in a home match-up against the Orlando Magic on Monday night through 21 minutes of play, and while those numbers represent a pretty invisible night, it’s actually quite the opposite.

Tucker was not brought to Miami to score the basketball at an elite level, he was brought here to do everything else. The main element to that is the defensive side of the ball, creating a suffocating starting lineup with Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler, and Bam Adebayo.

And well, a lot has changed for many of the East’s best teams this season for better or worse.

Brooklyn lost Kyrie Irving due to his unwillingness to get a vaccine.

Philadelphia currently lost Ben Simmons for reasons I don’t have time to explain.

And Milwaukee lost a specific piece of their team that isn’t being brought up enough, PJ Tucker.

To win a championship, you need guys like Tucker who can play over 20 minutes without scoring a point, and still look like the most important player on the floor.

Over the first 4 games of the season, players being defended by Tucker are shooting 26% from the field on 10 of 39 shooting. Some may say that’s a small sample size, but I’d say that number won’t shift much.

There are guys like Butler who are just ball hawks in a lot of ways to hit those passing lanes at an elite level. There are guys like Adebayo who are just so physically gifted at that size to stay in front of small, shifty guards on a regular basis. But there are also guys like Tucker who are just so positionally sound that he won’t give you an inch.

That’s what has made it so hard for Kevin Durant, which by the way, difficult for KD in a game is scoring 25 points on 50% shooting, but it was very evident he was uncomfortable. It’s not that Tucker uses length against him. It’s not that he’s reaching a ton to let the referee dictate the possession. He just gets in his grill, doesn’t give up that space, and forces the Durants of the world into tough deep ball shots.

Looking back at the recent trend of front-court mates for Bam Adebayo, it’s been a pretty rocky ride in my opinion.

Starting with Meyers Leonard, they had major success throughout the first half of the regular season, giving him that stretch big who plays in drop coverage essentially was a springboard to Adebayo just letting everything show on the defensive end.

But with Coach Erik Spoelstra, that type of play-style was not going to last in the post-season.

They acquired Jae Crowder, Andre Iguodala, and Soloman Hill at the deadline, leading to an incredible Crowder bubble run at the 4, basically showcasing the correct path for that slot next to Adebayo.

After he wasn’t retained, things did not go so well for that power forward position. Moe Harkless to Kelly Olynyk to Trevor Ariza was the continued revolving door for this Heat team. And although there were moments when the Ariza insertion was clicking, there was just one main difference between him and the ultimate 4.

They needed a guy who can size up.

It was great that Ariza plugged Miami’s point of attack defense at the time, but they have that in Kyle Lowry now. At this moment, the 4 who can size up instead of size down was the missing piece.

And that is Tucker.

As he said after the game regarding this team’s defense, “I can be on KD then Bam will switch and I’m like cool, then Jimmy will switch and I’m like cool, then Kyle will switch and I’m like cool.” And that right there is the beauty of this team’s new look defense.

When that switch occurs, Tucker has no problem sizing down as well, since frankly, he’s 6 foot 6 so it’s not necessarily “sizing down.” Looking at Miami’s defense on James Harden last night, he shot 0 of 7 when Adebayo, Butler, and Tucker were defending, and that was not accidental.

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Tucker was the reason Miami took down Brooklyn on Wednesday night, and there’s a chance I could be writing that same sentence following a playoff game later in the year.

He may be making an outstanding impact on defense and on the boards, but he’s actually provided a really positive offensive role as well, which may not be the case all season. Tucker is currently shooting 39% from three on over 3 attempts a game, which is needed to take some pressure off Miami’s wing ball-handlers.

To put some of that stuff in perspective, obviously this is once again a small sample size, but Tucker has the best net rating on the team right now at 25.1. Where do the other starters land? Lowry at 19.1, Butler at 16.4, and Adebayo at 9.8.

And that’s not all due to Tucker’s 81.6 defensive rating, which is absolutely insane, but he also has the highest offensive rating among Heat starters. The sustainability of this is another conversation, but there’s no doubt that Tucker is playing at a level that I don’t think many expected.

Well, maybe Pat Riley expected it.

The last thing that must be pointed out about Tucker: he’s the Kyle Lowry of the defense.

Lowry isn’t the best offensive weapon on this team, but his job is to set up the better offensive options and put them in better positions to thrive on each possession. And that’s exactly what Tucker is doing for the defense.

Aside from the vocal aspect, since he never stops talking on the floor, he’s placing Adebayo and Butler into these weak-side defensive stances where each of them thrive, while also taking the bigger match-ups so Adebayo doesn’t have to take the beating on that end of the floor every night down low.

We knew they needed a guy to set up offense like Lowry, but I don’t think we fully recognized the need for a guy to set up defense like Tucker.

They have that now, and Tucker has been good. Really good, and it shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Everything Tradeshows is a one-stop-shop for trade show exhibit rentals and custom exhibit display purchase solutions to companies of all sizes.

Visit them at EverythingTradeShows or call 954-791-8882