Former Lakers player to join EuroLeague team four years after signing $32 million deal in LA

Ex-LA Lakers player to swap NBA for EuroLeague

The Orlando Magic drafted Talen Horton-Tucker with the 46th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and immediately traded him to the Lakers.

The shooting guard barely played in his first season, as the Lakers won the championship, but he developed into a valuable role player in his second.

The Lakers and Horton-Tucker then agreed to a three-year, $32 million rookie contract extension in the 2021 offseason.

This lucrative deal signalled that the Lakers viewed Horton-Tucker as a future starter, and it even cost them Alex Caruso.

However, THT underwhelmed in his third season in Los Angeles and was traded to the Utah Jazz for Patrick Beverley the next summer.

Horton-Tucker has consistently shown signs of becoming an excellent player, but after two years with the Jazz and one with the Chicago Bulls, his NBA career is over.

BasketNews has reported that the 24-year-old is close to agreeing a contract with EuroLeague club Fenerbahce.

Talen Horton-Tucker’s stats with LA Lakers

Talen Horton-Tucker played just six regular season and two playoff games in his rookie year with the LA Lakers.

It was in THT’s second season in Los Angeles that he convinced the Lakers’ front office that he had significant potential.

He averaged 9.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.8 assists on reasonable efficiency as a 21-year-old do-it-all shooting guard.

However, Horton-Tucker’s field-goal percentage took a step back in the following season, which could not afford to happen as a non-shooter.