Clippers trade P.J. Tucker, Mo Bamba to Jazz in salary dump deal

Expect to see a lot of these trades in the next five days, smaller trades that are all about lowering a team’s tax bill — usually at the cost of a draft pick.

The Los Angeles Clippers are trading P.J. Tucker, Mohamed Bamba and their 2030 second-round pick to the Utah Jazz for Drew Eubanks and veteran guard Patty Mills, a story broken by ESPN’s Shams Charania and Bobby Marks, and since confirmed by multiple other sources.

For the Clippers, this was all about the money. They entered the day almost $2.5 million over the luxury tax line and are now $4 million below it, primarily by swapping out Tucker and his $11.5 million contract for Eubanks and his $5 million.

More than just saving the Clippers a chunk of change this season — they now will receive a payment from the tax teams rather than making one — this opens the door for them to sign any player on the buyout market. Teams over the tax line cannot sign a player in the buyout market who made more than the mid-level exception ($12.8 million), a group of players that could include Bruce Brown if the Raptors cannot find a trade for him before the deadline. There will be other role players in that mix for whom the Clippers will be a tempting destination. If there’s a player the Clippers really want, they still have their $3.3 million taxpayer midlevel exception to throw at a guy, a little more than the minimum.

Bamba had played regularly for the Clippers as a backup center and now Eubanks will step into that role, while Tucker had been out of the rotation.

For the Jazz, this was all about the future draft pick. Bamba can play some at the five for them and they likely will discuss a buyout with Tucker, who will hope to land on a playoff team.