The Los Angeles Lakers bought a second-round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft to select promising young combo-guard, Talen Horton-Tucker. THT, as dubbed by the fans, has had some big moments with the Lakers in which he showcased the potential that he has in the NBA.
That potential essentially caused the Lakers to sign THT over Alex Caruso last summer. With the team being over the luxury tax, it really only had an interest in signing one contract of that caliber and the front office went with the young player over the better player.
That is probably part of the reason why THT is reportedly untouchable this offseason unless the team can package him in a trade for an all-star. Spoiler alert: the Lakers are not going to package him for an all-star.
That should not stop the team from trading THT, though. While the Lakers should obviously not make any bad trades, THT certainly should not be untouchable this offseason.
Here are three reasons why the Los Angeles Lakers should definitely trade Talen Horton-Tucker this offseason:
1. He was not good at all last season
Granted, this hurts his trade value and could ultimately be the reason why the Lakers don’t trade him as other teams do not want to give up actual value for him. Horton-Tucker had a really bad season last year and was not making the team better in the slightest. He was probably making them worse.
Horton-Tucker was okay defensively but he was not even close to being good enough to make up for his offensive deficiencies. THT cannot shoot the basketball, has struggled in creating his own shot and can really only finish with one hand at the rim. He is as predictable as it gets offensively, at least when it comes to him scoring the basketball.
The Lakers are trying to win a title in this shrinking window with LeBron James and the fact of the matter is that THT is not helping that cause. Yes, he has potential, but there is also a reason for the Lakers to not overvalue that potential this season.