One rotation player clearly trending down for the Clippers

When the LA Clippers made the trade for James Harden, it required them to trade away multiple players that would have ultimately been contributing regularly as part of Head Coach Tyronn Lue's rotation.

The tradeoff was that they were acquiring an elite offensive talent in Harden. But along with the former scoring champion came P.J. Tucker, who was expected to fill minutes at wing and bring solid minutes as a three-and-D player.

That reality has not yet materialized, and P.J. Tucker has struggled mightily in his first month with the Clippers. This has led to him seeing a significant decrease in playing time.

P.J. Tucker's playing time is dwindling

Against the Mavericks on Saturday night, Tyronn Lue played Tucker for a grand total of eight minutes, and did not put him in the game for the entire second half. It would seem that Lue is slowly realizing he needs to look further down his bench for answers going forward.

It was understood coming in that P.J. would project as a more effective player in the playoffs than in the regular season, but it is still a little bit of a surprise that he has been an utter black hole this season offensively. In his last 74 minutes of game action, Tucker has attempted just two shots from the floor and has scored zero points.

Since he can not even be relied on for one three-point attempt per game recently, it is best for the Clippers to play younger guys that will have a better chance of making a real impact.

Players like Amir Coffey and Kobe Brown should be prime candidates to replace P.J. Tucker's minutes.