Camila Sosa
It has been a more than disappointing campaign for Los Angeles Lakers in the 2021-2022 edition of the NBA due to the poor team chemistry on and off the court, the injuries and the real possibility of missing a postseason spot, and several months have passed where they have already begun to look for those responsible. Talen Horton-Tucker isn’t a name that comes up often in the conversation because he doesn’t have the same status as Anthony Davis or Russell Westbrook, but he has had a major impact on the Lakers’ campaign both directly and indirectly.
The first of the reasons for such a statement is the following: the 21-year-old guard is not having an improvement in this harvest compared to the numbers he placed in the last edition: 9.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists in worse effectiveness percentages and with a notable difference (41.2% from the field vs 45.8% in 2020-2021, 26.6% in triples vs 28.2% in 2020-2021).
His scoring average is up by only 0.3 units but with the obvious difference that his effectiveness is much worse: his rebounds are 0.6 units up, and his losses are 0.2 units lower. The rest of his numbers declined or remain the same despite averaging five more minutes per game than last year (25.4 currently vs 20.1 last season).
Talen Horton-Tucker’s Contract
This role has not sat well with Horton-Tucker, who admittedly suffered injuries during the season but has had enough time and enough opportunities to regain pace. This same increase in responsibilities came with a new contract for the Iowa State University graduate, which went into effect this same season, having a salary of $ 9,5 million dollars this season and thus making him the fourth highest paid player of the entire squad.
Not only has he failed to match the value of his current salary, but he also has two more years of contract that are worth even greater ($10M in 2022-2023, and a $11M with player option in 2023-2024), it is evident that the Lakers invested in him as a long-term project with the intention of him becoming that fourth major player alongside LeBron James, Davis and Westbrook, but that hasn’t been the case so far in this campaign.
Players like Malik Monk, Austin Reaves, Stanley Johnson and even newcomer D.J. Augustin have had equal or better returns than Talen for much lower salaries (Monk is the best paid with $ 1,7M dollars as a total salary). And to further highlight how negative his extension was during this season, the Los Angeles board decided to let current Chicago Bulls point guard Alex Caruso pass in preference instead of keeping Horton-Tucker on the roster, when the contracts would have had a similar value. Needless to say, who has been better so far for their respective team.
Rob Pelinka, the Lakers‘ vice president of operations, tried to use Talen as a bargaining chip alongside the 2027 first-round pick, the only one remaining in the hands of the franchise. He was unsuccessful, however, in getting a player who could bring to the team what Horton-Tucker did not, trying to acquire names like Jerami Grant, Cam Reddish or Myles Turner.
No team is convinced that the shooting guard can match the value of his contract with his current performance, despite being very young and having the potential to become a great player in the future. And that’s also been one of the reasons Talen has been an anchor in the Lakers’ path. Having chosen to trade Kyle Kuzma for Russell Westbrook, the decision to keep Horton-Tucker doesn’t look good either when we look at the 26-year-old forward’s performance with the Washington Wizards currently (17.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists on 45.2% percentages and 34.1% on three-pointers).
The legendary Los Angeles franchise is with its hands tied and depends on many factors to put together a contending team for the next edition of the NBA: the value and possible interested in Russell Westbrook, the little salary space of the team, the happiness of LeBron James, the physique of Anthony Davis, and the perception that other teams have about Talen Horton-Tucker are all delimiting what the Lakers are able to do with their roster to compete at a higher level during the 2022-2023 campaign.
While Talen’s potential exists, and which could totally improve next season, having missed one of LeBron’s best years of performance is something the organization couldn’t afford, and Horton-Tucker’s future with the team will be up in the air until next season’s change deadline. Will he be able to improve his performance and become a trade piece for the Lakers? Will he regain his flaming prospect status? Or will it be a mistake until 2024 that his contract ends?
