Since the arrival of LeBron James, the Lakers have attempted to surround him with talent that was ready to win now. Father time is undefeated and even the great King James will have to surrender his throne at some point. With that sense of urgency, developing young talent has not been much of an option.
In order to acquire Anthony Davis and others, the Lakers have had to surrender the likes of Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Jordan Clarkson. However, the Lakers do have one championship under their belt and one young kid that’s avoided the trade market has been Talen Horton-Tucker.
He was famously not a part of a package to get Kyle Lowry during the trade deadline last season, but there was still a chance he could be dealt in the off-season. THT fans can now take a sigh of relief, according to Adrian Wojnarowoski of ESPN, the Lakers have signed the Horton-Tucker to a 3-year contract extension worth $32 million:
Restricted free agent Talen Horton-Tucker has agreed to a three-year, $32M deal to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers, his agents @KlutchSports CEO Rich Paul and Lucas Newton tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 3, 2021
The Lakers can now have a piece to help off the bench this season and beyond. Horton-Tucker has shown glimpses of great play in his short time in the league and at only 20 years old, it’s smart to hold on to that investment.
Now, the Lakers have a foundational piece after the LeBron era to pair with Davis. The Lakers will have a lot of veterans taking discount with limited cap space, so it will be nice to have THT be that injection of youth off the bench.
We will likely see a lot more of Horton-Tucker this season. With another full NBA season under his belt, it will be interesting how big of a leap the third year guard takes. The Lakers have placed a lot of faith in THT with this contract and the decision to not re-sign Alex Caruso.
Nevertheless, Horton-Tuckerwill be in purple in gold for three more years and hopefully many more after that.
