Los Angeles Lakers: Ranking the 3 most valuable trade chips

1. Talen Horton-Tucker

The Los Angeles Lakers’ most valuable trade chip is Talen Horton-Tucker and it is not even close. However, there still would be some hurdles to cross if the Lakers were to trade THT. THT is a restricted free agent this offseason, so he would have to agree to a sign-and-trade and not get a massive offer elsewhere.

The Lakers definitely are not out on the market shopping THT and in a perfect offseason, Rob Pelinka would re-sign him to a fair contract that does not restrict the team financially. The offseason is never perfect, though, and THT certainly is not untouchable.

There is a path where the Los Angeles Lakers have the chance to make a really big move, say a sign-and-trade deal for Kyle Lowry, and have to include THT in the package. It would be a tough pill to swallow for Laker fans but if a team like the Raptors is willing to offer THT a poison-pill offer sheet and the Lakers cannot match it then it makes sense to get something out of him.

I would pump the brakes on the idea of THT being a future star until he proves it more in the league. No matter what he is going to blossom into a really solid two-way rotation player, which is what every title-contending team wants to have.

But we do have the tendency as fans to overvalue the players on our favorite team when the rest of the league views him a different way. I do not think there is a route in which THT is a bad NBA player but I definitely am not buying into the “he is going to be an all-star” crowd.

Regardless, he is still only 20 years old (turns 21 in November) with legitimate NBA reps under his belt. He has the potential of a draft pick and has already proven himself on the NBA stage. That is very valuable.