AUGUST 6: The Lakers have officially re-signed Horton-Tucker, the team confirmed today in a press release.
AUGUST 3: Restricted free agent guard Talen Horton-Tucker has agreed to a three-year, $32MM deal to return to the Lakers, agents Rich Paul and Lucas Newton tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The deal includes a third-year player option, according to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
Horton-Tucker, a second-round pick in the 2019 draft, averaged 9.0 PPG, 2.8 APG, and 2.6 RPG on .458/.282/.775 shooting in 65 games (20.1 MPG) for the Lakers in 2020/21.
Those numbers don’t exactly jump off the page, but Horton-Tucker is being paid more for his potential than his past performance. He won’t turn 21 until November, making him one of the youngest free agents on the market this summer. The Lakers expect him to take a big step forward in 2021/22, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
The Lakers had Early Bird rights on Horton-Tucker and will take full advantage of those rights to re-sign him. The Early Bird exception allowed the team to go up to about $10.4MM for the first year in the 20-year-old’s new contract, and it appears his salary will be something close to that.
With a player option in the third year of his new deal, Horton-Tucker will have the opportunity to hit the open market again at age 22 as an unrestricted free agent. If he takes a major step forward in the next two years, he’ll be in line for a substantial payday at that point.
Don’t understand the love affair with this dude
Seems like LeBron said he was good and everybody ran with it – despite him not doin anything yet. Got a feeling we’re gonna be waiting… and waiting… and
I mean, you can see glimpses when he plays of his versatile talents,but he’s really got to start making better passes, better decisions, and shooting better if he’s ever going to live up to a deal like the one he’s already signed..
If I’m the Lakers, I find it pretty hard to believe they would rather have him than Caruso…I’m actually questioning whether the whole “LeBron’s guy” and the fact his agent is Rich Paul didn’t also play into this new deal a good bit.
Has to be part of it, because by no other statistical standard does THT deserve this kind of deal…Basically, from what I’ve seen, especially on a team with title aspirations, he has belonged in the G-League..Just saying..
Dude is 20. He will be a top 15 player in three years
Thanks for the laugh, I needed that
Hey, I was 20 once. Are you saying I could’ve been a top-15 player too? Damn.
he might be a top 60 player in 3 years if he’s lucky
Lakers need anyone not 35 plus years of age at this point.. they had to pay him
He has great potential, especially given his age.
He’s not worth $10+m a year. THT is still very green and plays mostly out of control and wild like Stu Lantz have pointed out numerous times.
I agree, he really has to play with more control. But they had to resign him. Caruso left and the Lakers got nothing in return. In terms of asset management, you want those U$10+m even if it’s for making a trade down the line. Kind of like what they did with Kuzma. But maybe THT blossoms. Let’s see!
Agreed,
They can package THT, Nunn and Monk for another 30+ year old at some point
Poor guy won’t ever touch the ball on offense unless he rebounds it and brings it up himself.
Poor guy… not yet allowed to drink a beer, just signed a 30 million dollar contract to play for the Lakers.
Nice try troll. He will run circles around the rest of the team being so young, he will get the ball when he wants to.
Very solid deal ! Avoided the 4th year and any crazy RFA market overpay ploys
He now gives us an actually salary to match in a trade if we want in the next 2 years
Before it was impossible
Id bet he gets a good deal of minutes to showcase value and Lakers can get a better feel of where they want to go with him. Great 24 hrs for us
Glad they brought him back and for 3 years. As these older guys leave he will get more playing time but for the time being he can work on his craft and make the most out of the time he does get on the court. People say it’s an over pay but you gotta watch him, he’s good on defense, he’s fun on offense and makes the most out of the limited time he does get. He’s fun to watch. The roster seems set.
It’s a very solid deal no doubt –
I hope he can handle being in trade talks tho b/c those start next year by mid-season and probably never end the whole 3 yrs
But maybe the security$, for a player like that (good chance he’d never even make it) will give him a sense of peace next year –
I still think they could use some D at the 1~3, that Bazemore ink was sneaky good imo and probably was directly linked to Carusos departure. THT himself could go a long way helping as well here, I felt he regressed on D last year from the previous but we are so raw here it can turn back just as quickly
He’s likely LeBron’s successor.
THT’s it. Bingo, he’s not!!!
Stoked that they keep THT! He’s going to be a star in 2 years. The future of the team is THT and AD. You can build around them in the future.
Dude is only 20yrs old with potential. You don’t let that walk away for nothing. If he doesn’t pan out, you can still trade him young. If he does, you win the lottery
Dude is only 20yrs old with potential. You don’t let that walk away for nothing. If he doesn’t pan out, you can still trade him young. If he does, you win the lottery
Love this kid but he needs to work on his shooting to fill a bigger role this season and beyond
Will give them the important guard defense they need having lost Caruso. Roster coming together for them almost exactly as I was talking about, but they got pieces for a couple of roles I really am surprised they could get, with Dwight as the pick and roll defending, romp protecting depth big for certain matchups, behind Davis and Gasol, and getting Nunn and Monk as the backup/depth scoring/shooting guards. Still cant believe they got Nunn. Thought he would potentially get $14 million AAV from someone, although its difficult for RFAs, especially scoring guards like him right now, but figured he would get sign and traded somewhere
Lakers still need a wing piece besodesAriza, and maybe a depth 4 behind LeBron and Melo, but besides the wing piece, they’re pretty much set
“he’ll be in line for a substantial payday at that point”
Dude just signed a 32 Million contract, I guess that not substantial