Getty Tyreke Evans was teammates with Victor Oladipo on the Indiana Pacers.
The NBA buyout market is heating up now that the trade deadline is in the rear-view mirror. Goran Dragic is the biggest name out there, although a Miami Heat reunion looks unlikely. Keep an eye on Tyreke Evans.
The fourth overall pick from the 2009 draft was recently reinstated after a two-year absence due to a drug suspension. Evans has been working out in South Beach along with John Wall and Michael Beasley, via NBA insider Marc Stein. The Heat don’t necessarily need another 6-foot-6 combo guard, not with the expected return of Victor Oladipo, but don’t count it out.
Evans was an intriguing prospect coming out of Memphis and earned NBA Rookie of the Year honors in 2010 with the Sacramento Kings. He has averaged 15.7 points and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 44% from the field in 594 career games. The 32-year-old last played in 2019 as a member of the Pacers where he was teammates with Oladipo. In fact, Evans cited Oladipo as the reason why he signed with Indiana.
“Victor is a problem, and everybody that was with him never backed down,” Evans told James Herbert of CBS Sports at the time. “They just played hard the whole game. They put up a fight. Once I seen that, I knew that was a good fit that I could go over and help. Just adding another guy that can create, help those guys out. That’s why I chose it.”
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Bucks Aggressively Pursuing Dragic
Meanwhile, Dragic continues to attend Heat games at FTX Arena on a regular basis. He was in the building for Saturday night’s 115-111 win over Brooklyn and posed for pictures with fans. That appearance stoked the flames of a possible reunion despite several reports to the contrary.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Milwaukee Bucks are the leading candidate to sign Dragic once he gets bought out. The Bucks are down two guards after trading away Donte DiVincenzo then losing Pat Connaughton to a broken hand.
In the aftermath of the Donte DiVincenzo trade and Connaughton injury, the Bucks will be aggressive in pursuit of Goran Dragic once he enters the buyout market next week, sources said. There will be significant opportunity for Dragic to play a role on the defending champions.
The San Antonio Spurs are expected to buy the 35-year-old Slovenian ahead of the March 1 deadline. Other teams mentioned as “possible suitors” include the Bulls, Warriors, Clippers and Lakers.
Duncan Robinson Hypes Up PJ Tucker
PJ Tucker made arguably the play of the year on Saturday when he chased down a loose ball against Brooklyn and swatted it over to Duncan Robinson for a corner three. The veteran forward dove on the floor, stretched out his limbs, and made the highlight-reel assist. And Tucker raised his arm in triumph as the three-pointer went down.
PJ Tucker never stops hustling. Saves ball over to Duncan for 3 and he called it from the ground.
After the game, Robinson talked about how much he admires Tucker and called him the “ultimate teammate.” Tucker is averaging 8.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists in his first year in Miami.
“PJ Tucker is next level,” Robinson told reporters. “He doesn’t care about shooting the ball. He doesn’t care about touching the ball. He just wants to compete and be gritty, and win. And you don’t find too many guys like that, and he’s super unique in that way, and he’s the ultimate teammate, a guy you want to go to war with, that’s for sure.”