[Chiang] P.J. Tucker on not ending up back with the Bucks: “I was pretty surprised. You win a championship and you’re part of winning something special like that, you would expect that… You watch role guys in series in the past, usually those guys go back.”

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But with most of the Bucks’ championship rotation returning this season, Tucker was not retained. Milwaukee held Tucker’s Bird rights and could have surpassed the salary cap to bring him back, but The Athletic reported that the Bucks’ luxury tax bill was a factor in not matching or exceeding the Heat’s offer.

In the end, Tucker signed a two-year, $14.4 million contract that includes a player option in the second season to join the Heat as a free agent. Meanwhile, the Bucks are currently facing a luxury tax bill of $41.5 million even after not re-signing Tucker.

Tucker declined to discuss the offer he received from the Bucks in free agency.

“I was pretty surprised,” Tucker said of not ending up back with the Bucks. “You win a championship and you’re part of winning something special like that, you would expect that. A chance of it not happening? There’s a chance. It didn’t happen. Does it happen a lot? I don’t think so, not in that situation, not in those situations. You watch role guys in series in the past, usually those guys go back. So I’ll take my situation as just that, a particular situation. I move on from it and keep it going.”

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Shortly after his move to the Heat became public in early August, Tucker took to Instagram to deliver an emotional message to Bucks fans. As part of that message, Tucker wrote: “Wow.. I’m still a little lost for words to be honest. Still in [shock] but it is what it is. Today took a hard turn on the road of my career but like my grandma used to tell me.. all you can control is what you can control.”

“I just felt like it for the fans, because everybody blamed me,” Tucker said of what was behind that Instagram post. “All the fans blamed me right away, not knowing the situation, what happened. So that was definitely a raw emotion, right in that moment. But it is what it is. It’s business. They made a decision, I made a decision, and we move on. It is what it is. But to say that I’m not circling every time we play Milwaukee, I would be lying to you.”