After trading Terrence Ross in the deal for Serge Ibaka, the Toronto Raptors had a hole in their wing rotation. They solved that issue by trading for P.J. Tucker in exchange for Jared Sullinger and two future second round picks.

Tucker will give Toronto a rugged defender who can play both forward spots and occasionally slide down to defend some of the bigger shooting guards in the league. He’s also a better shooter than most think, as he’s developed into a 3&D player. Tucker adds a layer of toughness for the Raptors that they have seemed to lack at times during recent postseason runs.

Tucker will fit nicely off the bench behind DeMarre Carroll and should pair well with Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan when he gets into games. Tucker will also give the Raptors the ability to go small. Toronto could close games with lineups of Ibaka, Tucker, Carroll, DeRozan and Lowry, which counters teams like Cleveland and Boston who often go small late in games. This has been something Toronto has lacked the last few years and has cost them against some of their direct competitors in the Eastern Conference.

With Cleveland and Boston sitting in front of them and Washington and Atlanta making upgrades, Toronto had to do something to fill that hole in their wing depth and they were able to do it without giving up all that much. Sullinger was hurt for most of the year and has fallen behind Ibaka, Patrick Patterson and rookie Pascal Siakam at the power forward spot. And Toronto is comfortable going with Lucas Nogueira and Jakob Poeltl behind Jonas Valanciunas at center.

The lone hesitation for Toronto is that they now project to be a very expensive team next year if they keep all of their free agents: Lowry, Ibaka, Patterson and Tucker. The Raptors could zoom right past the Luxury Tax line, but that is a problem for another day. Today, Toronto is in a better position to push for the top spot in the East than they were prior to the All-Star break.

Grade for Toronto: A-

Phoenix had hopes of getting a first round pick for Tucker, but as the deadline drew closer, they abandoned those pursuits and instead took two second round picks. That isn’t the return they hoped for, but it isn’t a bad one either.

Sullinger is likely to have little impact for the Suns, but could see some minutes as he tries to rehab his value before becoming a free agent this summer. This trade means Phoenix can go all-in and push as many minutes as possible to T.J. Warren and Marquese Chriss as they can handle. Considering those two players are big parts of the future for the Suns that is the prudent decision for a team that has no hope of making the playoffs this year.

Two second round picks might not have been the return Phoenix wanted for Tucker, but it helps add to the coffers for Ryan McDonough and gives him further assets as he looks to build the Suns back up. The goal for the remainder of this season is to develop their young players and see who fits as a part of the future in Phoenix. It is just too bad that Dragan Bender is injured and likely to miss the rest of this season.

There is also a slight chance that this move could free up some time for Alan Williams and Derrick Jones Jr. Williams is a restricted free agent this summer and Jones Jr. has a non-guaranteed contract next season. Phoenix may choose to rest and sit veterans like Tyson Chandler and Jared Dudley, who are known quantities, for portions of the remainder of the season to get a full read on their young players who haven’t been able to get minutes to date.

Grade for Phoenix: B