It's Official, Talen Horton-Tucker is Good

[Capn'O]

The same people that laughed at his name being brought up in trade rumors are acknowledging his talent and upside. Gotta love it.

O rly???

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2028771&start=40#p87031920

Take yer persecuted crap somewhere else.

First off, good call. There are a few posters like yourself that recognized his talent, but that was few and far between. I'd say in general the board was pretty divided. And I'm not talking about that thread only, I remember all the gameday chatter centered around him. There was always a whole lot of he's a scrub, just another overrated Laker that the team is using as trade bait, etc.

I've been trying to figure out how to get this mofo on the Knicks for years and now it's never gonna happen

[Duke4life831]

I wont lie, I laughed at the "only 20 years old" part. If this thread last a week, that point right there is no longer valid haha.

Also 3 games is all that it takes now to be officially good in the NBA? We are talking about a guy who has never been a good shooter. Now could he have improved as a shooter? Of course. Do I think a guy who has been an under 30% 3pt shooter his first 2 years in the league and just 30% from the college line, has all of a sudden turned into a 40% 3pt shooter on 6+ attempts? No.

I can point to many guys in their 2nd or 3rd years that put together a 2-3 good game stretch. Especially on a bad team that needed someone to take shots. I think we need a much bigger sample size than 3 games to see if he is just on a hot shooting stretch, especially when we are talking about a guy who has always been a bad shooter.

And to be clear, Im not saying I think THT sucks. I actually liked him coming out of Iowa State. Just think we need a bigger sample size of 3 games to say he has officially arrived.

[Sedale Threatt]

I already trust him with the ball more than I do Westbrook. For whatever that's worth.

[iamworthy]

I already trust him with the ball more than I do Westbrook. For whatever that's worth.

if we're going there I already trust Austin Reaves more than Kuz!

[Ice Trae]

Why would you ever doubt him? Balding is a sign of greatness in the NBA

[Kilroy]

I already trust him with the ball more than I do Westbrook. For whatever that's worth.

if we're going there I already trust Austin Reaves more than Kuz!

AAAAbsolutely...

[Kilroy]

THT is playing just insane minutes right now... No way he maintains this production all season... And frankly, he should probably be doing a little more with it, if we're going to declare him whatever we're declaring him here...
That said, his defense has been transformative for this team... We still suck, but not nearly as bad as we did before he came back...
His fearlessness and improved shooting, are also welcome...

So yeah, he's always been this... It's just nice to get more of a chance to see it right now... Now if LeBron can come back and his minutes come back to sane levels, let's see what he does...

[Capn'O]

THT is playing just insane minutes right now... No way he maintains this production all season... And frankly, he should probably be doing a little more with it, if we're going to declare him whatever we're declaring him here...
That said, his defense has been transformative for this team... We still suck, but not nearly as bad as we did before he came back...
His fearlessness and improved shooting, are also welcome...

So yeah, he's always been this... It's just nice to get more of a chance to see it right now... Now if LeBron can come back and his minutes come back to sane levels, let's see what he does...

He really hasn't done these things before. He's only playing 34 mpg and he's never put up above average TS% before whereas now he's scoring at very high percentages. What's happened imo is he's become more comfortable doing the things he's always been able to do at an NBA level. As I said a year ago, let your hair down. You've got a player. Whether that's a starter or star remains to be seen but he's in that range.

[trickshot]

Absolutely! He'll fall back to earth but don't give the kid grief for not being traded. Couldn't even imagine the scandal letting him go for nothing. They should have kept he and Caruso but under no condition was letting a young prospect leave for free defensible. That's the kind of thing that gets people fired.

[Kilroy]

THT is playing just insane minutes right now... No way he maintains this production all season... And frankly, he should probably be doing a little more with it, if we're going to declare him whatever we're declaring him here...
That said, his defense has been transformative for this team... We still suck, but not nearly as bad as we did before he came back...
His fearlessness and improved shooting, are also welcome...

So yeah, he's always been this... It's just nice to get more of a chance to see it right now... Now if LeBron can come back and his minutes come back to sane levels, let's see what he does...

He really hasn't done these things before. He's only playing 34 mpg and he's never put up above average TS% before whereas now he's scoring at very high percentages. What's happened imo is he's become more comfortable doing the things he's always been able to do at an NBA level. As I said a year ago, let your hair down. You've got a player. Whether that's a starter or star remains to be seen but he's in that range.

He hasn't had the opportunity to do these exact things before... It was rare to see him get 20min in a game and he had many games he didn't play at all...
But for those who paid attention and knew what they were seeing, you could see he had the potential to do these things... That the ability and desire was there, it was just about opportunity...
He's always had the poise and always looked comfortable... In fact, his confidence at a young age was one of his most outstanding characteristics... It really was just about getting the green light for him. Vogel said last season THT was going to be a starter soon... So that isn't even that much of a surprise, really.

So to me, I don't see him doing anything he hasn't been doing for the last couple years, he's just doing more of it and has the ability to string it all together.

I think he should be our starting wing... I just don't think he should be going 37min a game...

[zimpy27]

His shooting efficiency has surprised me, he's at .622 TS% and if he can stay above 0.58 then he's far better than last couple years where he sat at .532.


I don't think he's a very good playmaker and I'm glad he's not been given this role. He's a guy that needs to score the ball and defend. I felt he was asked to test out too many ways to play last season. I think Lakers know his strengths now.

[trickshot]

THT is playing just insane minutes right now... No way he maintains this production all season... And frankly, he should probably be doing a little more with it, if we're going to declare him whatever we're declaring him here...
That said, his defense has been transformative for this team... We still suck, but not nearly as bad as we did before he came back...
His fearlessness and improved shooting, are also welcome...

So yeah, he's always been this... It's just nice to get more of a chance to see it right now... Now if LeBron can come back and his minutes come back to sane levels, let's see what he does...

He really hasn't done these things before. He's only playing 34 mpg and he's never put up above average TS% before whereas now he's scoring at very high percentages. What's happened imo is he's become more comfortable doing the things he's always been able to do at an NBA level. As I said a year ago, let your hair down. You've got a player. Whether that's a starter or star remains to be seen but he's in that range.

agree with this. Dude already handled the ball with so much poise. Imo he also never actually looked like he would stay a poor jumpshooter for his career. Didn't expect it to happen this season and I still don't to be honest. Might fall back to earth but the first 3 games show a ceiling that's worth keeping an eye on.

[Capn'O]

THT is playing just insane minutes right now... No way he maintains this production all season... And frankly, he should probably be doing a little more with it, if we're going to declare him whatever we're declaring him here...
That said, his defense has been transformative for this team... We still suck, but not nearly as bad as we did before he came back...
His fearlessness and improved shooting, are also welcome...

So yeah, he's always been this... It's just nice to get more of a chance to see it right now... Now if LeBron can come back and his minutes come back to sane levels, let's see what he does...

He really hasn't done these things before. He's only playing 34 mpg and he's never put up above average TS% before whereas now he's scoring at very high percentages. What's happened imo is he's become more comfortable doing the things he's always been able to do at an NBA level. As I said a year ago, let your hair down. You've got a player. Whether that's a starter or star remains to be seen but he's in that range.

He hasn't had the opportunity to do these exact things before... It was rare to see him get 20min in a game and he had many games he didn't play at all...
But for those who paid attention and knew what they were seeing, you could see he had the potential to do these things... That the ability and desire was there, it was just about opportunity...
He's always had the poise and always looked comfortable... In fact, his confidence at a young age was one of his most outstanding characteristics... It really was just about getting the green light for him. Vogel said last season THT was going to be a starter soon... So that isn't even that much of a surprise, really.

So to me, I don't see him doing anything he hasn't been doing for the last couple years, he's just doing more of it and has the ability to string it all together.

I think he should be our starting wing... I just don't think he should be going 37min a game...

I absolutely saw the potential but:

has the ability to string it all together

This and the efficiency are the pieces we hadn't seen before.

[zimpy27]

The reason he fell in the draft was shooting. He's always had shooting issues. If he really has corrected them then he's going to be a star. Sample size too small though.

[Memories]

Lol @ people still picking Caruso over him. Smh. Lebron can turn any “high IQ/high Effort” guy into a quality player, especially the ones that had to fight their way into the NBA. Ask Dellanova. Austin Reeves is next. Those guys are a dime a dozen. A player of THT’s build, with his skill set at his age are rare.

Watching Caruso on the Bulls shows he’s anything but dime a dozen. But apparently you missed what’s happening so far this season.

But realistically BOTH THT and Caruso should be on this team. Going with Nunn over AC because he was 5 million cheaper was the real major mistake.

Nunn wasn't the mistake. It was the $44 million dollar man Westbrook. A healthy rotation of Nunn and THT, with Caruso and Hield coming off the bench would have been phenomenal. Or Nunn and Caruso off the bench, but you get the idea.

[Memories]

The reason he fell in the draft was shooting. He's always had shooting issues. If he really has corrected them then he's going to be a star. Sample size too small though.

Shooting was part of it, but THT fell in the draft because he got injured before the draft. He was a first round level player otherwise.

Lakers got very lucky to be able to buy the pick and land him.

[Young Stapler]

Lets go THT! He's going to have a huge season!

[FrobeBryant]

THT is playing just insane minutes right now... No way he maintains this production all season... And frankly, he should probably be doing a little more with it, if we're going to declare him whatever we're declaring him here...
That said, his defense has been transformative for this team... We still suck, but not nearly as bad as we did before he came back...
His fearlessness and improved shooting, are also welcome...

So yeah, he's always been this... It's just nice to get more of a chance to see it right now... Now if LeBron can come back and his minutes come back to sane levels, let's see what he does...

You’re right about seeing if he maintains it before we draw any definitive conclusions, but he has added a lot to his game from what I’ve seen over the last couple years. His three point shot (so far) looks much better than in years passed. And his step back pull up looks much more smoother. He’s still making small mistakes but I like the jump he’s made this season. His contract will look like a steal by seasons end.

[SharpyShuffle]

Cool news, so now I'm looking forward to THT being traded to a team like the Cavs as the price for taking on Westbrook's awful contract

[Up-And-Coming]

In his first 3 games after returning from injury, he's shown no rust and averaging 23 PPG and 7 Rebs. Last night he was LAL's best player and even outplayed Anthony Day-to-Davis, who struggled.

If the Lakers didn't re-sign him and he was doing this with another team, this board would be throwing a fit like they did with Caruso.

He's the real deal and only 20 years old.

I thought you were trolling and this was meme like Jayson Tayson is only 19 but I checked his Wiki and you're right. HES ONLY 20, although to be fair he's turning 21 next but still. I heard about this guy for 3 years I assume this guy would be in his mid 20s by now lmao

But good for THT, he's developing into a real good player!

Ya a lot of people don't realize he was drafted at 18 years old and still hasn't even played a full season's worth of games (only 80 games total including playoffs) but has at least shown potential and progress. THT's numbers will obviously drop pretty significantly when Lebron comes back but as long as he contributes in an increased role I'll be happy.