Lakers look foolish for nixing Raptors’ Talen Horton-Tucker trade

Before the Toronto Raptors flipped Goran Dragic to the San Antonio Spurs and add Thad Young at the trade deadline, they had pursued trades for younger guards that could help solidify the bench. Given his measurables, former Los Angeles Lakers guard Talen Horton-Tucker was talked up as a potential target. 

The former Iowa State star wasn’t only being discussed as a potential Raptors acquisition in a Kyle Lowry trade, but multiple hypothetical deadline scenarios that never came to fruition had THT ending up in Canada. Ultimately, he was shipped away to the Utah Jazz this offseason to acquire Patrick Beverley.

Beverley has been one of the worst players in the NBA this year, shooting a laughable 27% from the field and scoring just 4.5 points per game. The offer that LA received from Masai Ujiri in the past would have made the Lakers a much better bench this year and freed them from the shackles of Beverley.

ESPN’s Dave McMenamin said that the Raptors were willing to trade their first-round pick and the contract of veteran big man Khem Birch to Los Angeles in order to acquire Horton-Tucker. This may have been a bad trade for Ujiri, but Rob Pelinka being hesitant bailed him out.

The Lakers almost traded Talen Horton-tucker to the Toronto Raptors.

Even though Horton-Tucker went to a young Jazz team, he has seen his minutes reduced, his scoring drop from 10.0 points per game to 7.9 per contest, and his 3-point shooting (24.5%) remains poor. The Lakers did right by getting rid of him, but Toronto’s offer would have been better.

On top of the fact that Birch might have actually been a rotation player on one of the thinnest rosters in the league, they would have yet another first-round pick that could have been used as a trade chip in their Myles Turner pursuits or as ammo to get a young guard that can supplement their aging lineup.

The Raptors appear to have also benefitted from LA refusing to take this deal. Would Horton-Tucker even be in the rotation at this point? Toronto will likely try to unload the Birch contract at some point, but they could end up getting a better return than this.

Whereas Young has proven to be the wise veteran sage helping guide a young team, Horton-Tucker has been struggling to remain in an NBA rotation. Pelinka declining this trade helped the Raptors retain their pick while dooming the Lakers’ bench to another year of anonymity.