Lakers: Talen Horton-Tucker Is Going To Have A Big Season
For all the "old" jokes about the Lakers roster, one player on the Lakers is still 'the kid.' For every worry about the Lakers age and concern over energy, one Laker is a cannonball.
Talen Horton-Tucker is entering his third season, and he still hasn't hit his ceiling, especially according to Lakers GM Rob Pelinka. Pelinka really believes Horton-Tucker is an elite player waiting to burst out.
“There’s nothing Talen doesn’t have to keep him from being an elite player."
Horton-Tucker put up 9.0 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 2.8 APG last year. He shot 45.8% and 28.2 percent from outside. Horton-Tucker worked with former NBA three-point specialist Ben Gordon during the offseason, so the Lakers are hoping he will improve that part of his game.
The other strategy that may help Horton-Tucker is if the Lakers play small lineups. Horton-Tucker may only stand 6'4, but he has the wingspan of a bigger player, and the body strength of a bigger player as well. Rob Pelinka alluded to this idea as well.
“We got away from that last year. He’ll play more in the middle. You might see some centerless lineups, too. We have the type of team where we can really open the floor up."
The Lakers have actually been bewilderingly unclear on the style of play when it comes to big or small lineups.
Horton-Tucker could take bigger forwards off the dribble pretty easily and not be physically mismatched. This would spread the floor and give the Lakers a unique run-and-gun style of play. Whatever the case, if THT's shooting goes up a few notches and he maintains the bully-ball style of penetrating the paint, Horton-Tucker is going to have a great year.
