It was the holiday season of a lifetime for Rayjon Tucker.
The day before Christmas Eve, he received a phone call letting him know that his dream of playing in the NBA was about to come true.
The Utah Jazz had just completed a trade sending Dante Exum to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Jordan Clarkson in an effort to shore up their bench depth. In a related move, the Jazz released veteran Jeff Green and selected Tucker to fill the open roster spot.
Tucker was initially surprised by the call, he didn’t expect it to happen this fast.
“I really didn’t know how to think,” Tucker told Basketball Insiders. “I was excited, surprised that it happened so fast. But it definitely was a blessing.”
Tucker originally wasn’t supposed to be playing professional basketball right now. He started his college career at Florida Gulf Coast, where he played for two seasons as a contributor off the bench. Prior to his junior season, he transferred to Arkansas-Little Rock, sitting out a season due to transfer rules before being named to the All-Sun Belt Conference Second Team in 2018-19.
He had intended to play a graduate year this season and had committed to Penny Hardaway and Memphis over programs such as Auburn, Iowa State, Kansas and West Virginia. He ultimately decided to forego his final year of college basketball and keep his name in the NBA draft.
Although he went undrafted and began his pro career in the G League, he was always confident that he’d make it to the NBA one day.
“I always felt confident in myself and my skill set that I was meant to be here. I just didn’t know when exactly it was going to happen,” Tucker told Basketball Insiders. “I definitely felt that, eventually, I would get here. I just didn’t know the time frame.”
Tucker isn’t the first undrafted player in head coach Quin Snyder’s tenure that the Jazz have had some success with. Two of them, Joe Ingles and Royce O’Neale, are currently starters and key contributors to the team.
Since he took over as Utah’s head coach in 2014, Snyder has made it a point to hone in on the development of young undrafted players and trying to mold them into crucial rotation pieces. He currently has Tucker and Juwan Morgan, neither of whom has cracked the lineup yet, to work with.
“I’ve always enjoyed the development component that I think our staff has put together. Anytime you get young players in the program, it’s an opportunity,” Snyder told reporters before a recent game against the Los Angeles Clippers. “I think when you add a couple new guys, in this case, Rayjon and Juwan, sometimes those things take time to get guys on the floor. We’re developing them for a reason. We believe in them, and those opportunities, you never know when they’re going to come.”
Tucker was certainly doing enough in the G League this season to put him on the radar of NBA teams. After an impressive showing at the Las Vegas Summer League, the Milwaukee Bucks signed Tucker to an Exhibit 10 contract, giving them the option of putting him in the G League if he didn’t make the team out of training camp.
Tucker was one of the final cuts of the preseason for the Bucks, and he joined the Wisconsin Herd, their G League affiliate. In 16 games with the Herd, he put up 23.8 points per game on 49.4 percent shooting, 38.6 percent from the three-point line, 4.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
While his time in the G League wasn’t that long, he came to see the increased level of competition the league has to offer. He believes it served him well as a stepping stone to the NBA.
“The talent is good in the G League, so the experience is good,” Tucker told Basketball Insiders. “The Bucks and the Wisconsin Herd really pride themselves on development and they really take care of their guys. It was definitely a good experience for me.”
Tucker’s main attribute in the G League was his scoring prowess, something he displayed in college. During his final season of college basketball at Arkansas-Little Rock, he averaged 20.3 points per game.
This December with the Herd, Tucker increased his scoring from 23.8 points per game to 28.7 and was named the G League Player of the Month. Snyder knows it’s tough for players to make that scoring transition from the G League to the NBA, and he believes that the opposite end of the floor is where Tucker can earn playing time quicker.
“There aren’t too many players that come in out of the G League and score 30 a game in the NBA. Although, there’s not a lot of guys who get called up that are averaging five points a game. But there’s not a lot of guys that are averaging 30 then come up and average 30 in the NBA,” Snyder said. “But I think the way guys get on the floor is to defend. That’s been what we believe in. When you’re out there and you can guard, you’ve got a better chance of staying out there.”
Tucker certainly has the frame to develop into a capable wing defender. He already looks like a consistent shooter from three-point range, so if he can contribute on the defensive end, the Jazz potentially have a solid 3 & D-type player on their hands.
Tucker knows that he isn’t going to have the same scoring success he had in the G League, and he agrees that the biggest contribution he can bring to the team is by being a standout defensive player.
“More so if anything, I see myself contributing on the defensive end,” Tucker told Basketball Insiders. “Playing defense, getting stops, running out in transition, hitting the open shot. Just being an overall team player.”
So far, Tucker has seen playing time in two games during garbage time. He’s only taken four shots and hit two of them. He’s pulled down one rebound and gotten to the free-throw line once.
For a team that has playoff aspirations, it’s tough to picture Tucker getting meaningful rotation minutes. But this season is more about the long-term for him. He’s confident that he can eventually work his way into the Jazz rotation soon.
“I just want to grow as a player and as a teammate and try to help the team win,” Tucker told Basketball Insiders. “Try to earn my spot on the team, earn a role on the team, those are my main goals right now.”