3 things that P.J. Tucker now brings to the Milwaukee Bucks

P.J. Tucker gives the Milwaukee Bucks a corner 3-point threat

For as much as Tucker’s calling card lies on the defensive end, he’s made his use on the offensively, even while being a historically low-usage player.

It certainly helps that Tucker has been a sturdy and high-volume 3-point shooter over his career. A career 35.9 percent 3-point shooter, no one would confuse Tucker for being a high-level shooter and even his shooting prowess is fairly limited to being a corner threat. To Tucker’s credit, he has been one of the most prolific corner 3-point shooters in NBA history, which includes making the most corner triples during the 2018-19 season.

However, Tucker’s 3-point percentage, even in a small sample size, has taken a dip this year as he’s matched his career-low of 31.4 percent through his 32 appearances on the season. Tucker is shooting 24-for-72 on corner threes this year as well, per NBA.com/stats. It’s not a matter of the many personnel changes that have gone on in Houston either that has affected Tucker’s shooting efficiency as he’s shooting 23-for-68 on wide-open 3-pointers this year (33.8 percent).

For all of this to come while he’s tallying a career-low 7.7 usage percentage, the simple reality is that Tucker has to improve his 3-point shooting proficiency in order to maximize his offensive fit in Milwaukee.

There’s no question that the winning environment will help matters as will the number of leading shot creators the Bucks have in Antetokounmpo, Holiday and Middleton to get the requisite looks Tucker will need to be an adequate floor spacer. From there, it’s just a matter of seeing the shots fall.