According to a report, the New York Knicks are linked to restricted free agent Talen Horton-Tucker. Horton-Tucker has spent his entire NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers up to this point.
“The Knicks are mentioned by league sources as a team that has expressed interest in [Evan] Fournier, while New York has also been linked to Lakers guards Dennis Schroder and Talen Horton-Tucker,” wrote Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.
Ultimately, the Lakers will have the final say in where Horton-Tucker spends the 2021-22 season. Since he is a restricted free agent and the Lakers already extended him a qualifying offer, the team will have the right to match any offer he receives on the open market.
However, if the Knicks were to make a highly lucrative offer to the 20-year-old, there is a chance that the Lakers would not match it.
Horton-Tucker barely played during the 2019-20 season, so it was hard to get a feel for his playing style. In the 2020-21 season, however, Horton-Tucker saw legitimate minutes, and he displayed a lot of potential.
He averaged 9.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game this past season while shooting 45.8 percent from the field and 28.2 percent from 3-point land. He could certainly improve on his perimeter shooting, but at 20 years old, he has plenty of time to do so.
Horton-Tucker’s future is a major question mark right now, but fans should get some clarity in the relatively near future.
