By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Houston Rockets traded PJ Tucker, Latvian Rodions Kurucs and Bucks’ 2022 first-round pick back to Milwaukee for DJ Augustin, DJ Wilson and a 2023 unprotected first-round pick. The deal was made official on Friday.
As Adrian Wojnarowski reported, Houston also gets the right to swap its 2021 second-round pick for Milwaukee’s first round pick unless it falls between 1-9, which is a highly unlikely event.
Per Rockets: “The Houston Rockets today announced they have traded forwards P.J. Tucker and Rodions Kurucs to Milwaukee in exchange for guard D.J. Augustin, forward D.J. Wilson, and the Bucks first round pick in 2023. The Rockets also received the right to swap their 2021 second round pick for Milwaukee’s 2021 first round pick (Top 9 protected), while the Bucks re-acquired their 2022 first round pick which Houston obtained from Cleveland as part of a four-team trade earlier this season.
Augustin (6-0, 183) was originally the ninth overall pick by Charlotte in the 2008 NBA Draft following his sophomore season at Texas. In 901 career games with 326 starts, he has averaged 9.7 points, 4.0 assists and 1.9 rebounds while shooting 37.9% from 3-point range.
Over the past three seasons, Augustin was one of five players to have averaged at least 10.0 ppg and 4.0 apg while playing fewer than 26.0 minutes per game. Rockets head coach Stephen Silas was an assistant coach with Charlotte during Augustin’s final two seasons with the Bobcats from 2010-11 through 2011-12.
Wilson (6-10, 224) was originally the 17th overall pick by Milwaukee in the 2017 NBA Draft following his junior season at Michigan. He appeared in 119 career games for the Bucks while averaging 4.0 points and 2.9 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game.
While on assignment in the G League the past three seasons, Wilson averaged 16.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.9 3-pointers made on 38.2% shooting. He was the recipient of Michigan’s Rudy Tomjanovich Most Improved Player Award in his final collegiate season.
Tucker spent the past three and a half seasons with the Rockets while averaging 6.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.18 steals in 268 games with 220 starts. Since the start of 2012-13, he has played the most games of any player in the league.
Kurucs was acquired by Houston from Brooklyn earlier this season as part of a four-team trade with Cleveland and Indiana. He appeared in 11 games as a Rocket.”
Per Bucks: “The Milwaukee Bucks have acquired forward P.J. Tucker and forward Rodions Kurucs from the Houston Rockets in exchange for guard D.J. Augustin and forward D.J. Wilson. The Bucks were also returned their own 2022 first round draft pick and a Houston 2021 second round draft pick in exchange for Milwaukee’s 2021 and 2023 first round draft picks to complete the trade.
“P.J. Tucker checks all the boxes,” said Bucks General Manager Jon Horst. “He is a great teammate who brings a veteran presence with playoff experience. P.J.’s a versatile, high-IQ defender, and on the offensive end he plays with discipline, is unselfish, and spaces the court with his ability to knock down the three.
“Rodions is a talented, young player we feel will benefit from Coach Bud’s system that emphasizes player development and building good habits. Both players are highly competitive, and we welcome them to our family.”
Tucker, a 6-5, 245-pound forward, is in his 10th NBA season and holds career averages of 7.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals in 686 career games (510 starts) with Toronto, Phoenix and Houston. He’s a career 35.9 percent shooter from three and has led the league in made corner three-pointers each of the last three seasons. Additionally, Tucker has received multiple NBA All-Defensive team votes in six of the last seven seasons. This season with the Rockets, he averaged 4.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 32 games (all starts).
Originally selected by the Raptors with the 35th overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft out of Texas, Tucker has also played in 50 playoff games throughout his career (41 starts), all coming in the last four seasons where he’s advanced to the Conference Semifinals each year. In postseason action, Tucker is putting up 8.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 41.9 percent from three.
A 6-9, 230-pound forward from Latvia, Rodions Kurucs (RO-dee-ahns KOO-rootz) is in his third season in the NBA. He played the first 115 games of his career with the Brooklyn Nets, who selected him with the 40th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, before he was traded to the Rockets on Jan. 13 of this year. The 23-year-old currently holds career NBA averages of 6.1 points and 3.2 rebounds in 16.4 minutes per game while shooting 44.2 percent from the field.
Augustin signed with the Bucks prior to the start of the 2020-21 season and averaged 6.1 points, 3.0 assists and 1.4 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game with Milwaukee this season.
Wilson, who was selected by the Bucks with the 17th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, appeared in 119 games (4 starts) with Milwaukee over the last four seasons and averaged 4.0 points and 2.9 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game.
“We want to thank both D.J. Augustin and D.J. Wilson for their contributions to the Bucks organization,” Horst added. “We wish them well as they continue on in their NBA careers.”
Milwaukee’s roster stands at 15 players.”
Milwaukee is also trading forward Torrey Craig to Phoenix, because as Woj explained “the Bucks were persistent in pursuit of PJ Tucker, and GM’s Jon Horst and Rafael Stone closed on deal this evening. The Bucks expect a rejuvenated Tucker in contract year to help make run in East”.
It’s unclear which role Kurucs may have in the Bucks rotation. The Latvian is considered one if the top European talents of his generation but so far he hasn’t been able to get a prominent role in the NBA.