Lakers: Is LeBron James Only Hyping Talen Horton-Tucker To Boost His Trade Value?

LeBron James had high praise for Los Angeles Lakers swingman Talen Horton-Tucker following the team's 106-94 Sunday victory over the visiting Orlando Magic, a game in which THT scored 19 points and notched a whopping six steals.

He’s so SPECIAL!!! He’s HIM https://t.co/rDIjp7SDXt
— LeBron James (@KingJames) December 14, 2021

On the surface, centering the conversation on your less-heralded teammate seems like a pretty great thing to do.

But if we dig a bit deeper, we'll notice a certain behavioral pattern.

Just a few weeks after Anthony Davis's initial trade demand to get out of New Orleans went public, the trade deadline ultimately passed without a deal. It became clear that the Lakers and Pelicans would have to negotiate during the offseason. It was pretty apparent that the Lakers would have to move some combination of Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and/or Kyle Kuzma as part of an Anthony Davis trade. That's when James singled out Ingram's performance with the Lakers in February 2019:

.@KingJames on some of tonight's questionable calls and staying positive through the playoff push. pic.twitter.com/wvHx3lGp3C
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 26, 2019

And guess who was included in that eventual AD trade package? Bingo.

Ahead of the 2020-21 season, just a few weeks before the Lakers inked Kyle Kuzma to a very tradable three-year, $39 million contract extension, James was hyping him up as a player primed for major improvement:

Kyle Kuzma! https://t.co/W2oDJkFLP7
— LeBron James (@KingJames) December 4, 2020

Once Kuzma signed that deal, his name was bandied about in trade rumors pretty much all year, before LA eventually bit the bullet and shipped him out to the Washington Wizards as one of the centerpieces of its trade package for Russell Westbrook.

We know LeBron James has been a shadow GM for many of his teams over the years. He does prefer veteran help, and is wary of youth. He knows what he wants, and he knows how to get it. All this THT praise sure feels like a tactic to boost his value and get him shipped out of town for a quality return. THT is in the first season of a three-year, $30.8 million contract extension he signed with LA during the 2021 offseason using his Bird Rights, and becomes trade-eligible on January 15th.

Word broke earlier this week that as many as seven rival clubs are interested in trading for the 6'4" 21-year-old swingman. Whether or not that information was leaked by Lakers sources or external teams remains to be seen, but it's pretty clear that, despite their recent three-game win streak (the most recent victory required an overtime Austin Reaves buzzer-beater to beat a Luka Doncic-free Mavericks team), the 16-13 Lakers still need work. Talen Horton-Tucker, currently sidelined in the league's COVID-19 protocols, could be a pretty solid player on offense one day, but it doesn't look like he's ready to contribute consistently just yet.

Horton-Tucker, who had a cup of coffee at Iowa State before declaring for the NBA, is averaging 11.3 points, 4.5 boards, and 2.9 dimes per game this season. He is connecting on 40.6% of his looks from the floor (including just 27.8% of his triple attempts) but a solid 82.8% of his free-throws. He remains a minus defender. And yet, right now, he is one of the Lakers' more essential perimeter players, having earned himself the starting nod before his positive coronavirus test.

Was LeBron's praise for Talen Horton-Tucker, who (coincidentally?) has one of the Lakers' few non-minimum, non-maximum contracts and could be viewed as one of their most tradable assets, just praise? Or was it part of a plot to plant the seed that THT could be a valuable piece on another team, in the hopes that some sucker would nibble?

Judge for yourself.