Farewell to the NBA? What is the level of 24-year-old Holden Tucker?

The NBA career belonging to Holden Tucker may come to an end.

Report from European sports reporters, Turkish Premier League giant Fenerbachebeko is finalizing a one-year, $1 million contract with the defender who has played in the NBA for six years. Sources revealed that the agreement between the two sides has been reached, only a short time to officially announce it.

Horton Tucker's name is probably familiar to most fans, especially Lakers fans. As the second round pick in the 2019 class, his career began with the Lakers.

Like many second-round picks, Horton Tucker did not get many opportunities in the rookie season. He only played 8 games in the regular season + playoffs, but he was very lucky. He won the championship in the park with big guys such as James, Davis and Rondo in the first year of his career. In the second grade season, due to the departure of Danny Green, Rondo and others, many core members of the Lakers, including James and Davis, suffered injuries, and Horton Tucker got more opportunities. This year, he played a total of 65 games, averaging 20.1 minutes per game, scoring 9.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.0 steals.

Despite some shortcomings, such as inefficiency, with only 45.8%/28.2%/77.5% of the three events, the Lakers still gave him a three-year, $30.78 million contract renewal in the 2021 offseason.

To be honest, at that time, there were actually many people optimistic about this contract extension, because Horton Tucker was only 20 years old, he was 1.93 meters tall, with an arm span of 2.17 meters, and was strong. He was considered to be the Lakers' Prince and the next player in offense and defense.

However, we all know that Holden Tucker did not perform well.

In the 2021-22 season, the Lakers formed the Sunset Red Lineup, which eventually failed to score even in the playoffs. As one of the few young forces in the team, Horton Tucker's performance did not meet expectations at all: he averaged 25.2 minutes per game, scored 10.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists, and his three shooting percentage was 41.6%/26.9%/80.0%.

In 2021, fans' expectations for Horton Tucker was that he had to practice shooting and improve his finishing skills. However, this season, Horton Tucker's shooting level has not improved but retreated, and his backhand layup success rate has also declined. His real shooting percentage is only 50.3%, which is still down from the previous year (53.6%).

Here, there are three things that must be said:

1. In the summer of 2021, Caruso also became a free agent. At that time, Caruso really wanted to stay in the Lakers. His ideal price was only 30 million for three years, but the Lakers were only willing to provide 21 million for three years, and Caruso eventually joined the Bulls with 37 million for four years.

Caruso and Horton Tucker's contract renewal is not theoretically contradictory, because the Lakers have Caruso's right to bird, but due to the huge pressure of luxury tax, it was generally believed that Caruso and Horton Tucker could only choose one of them, and the Lakers finally chose Horton Tucker.

Judging from the ending, the Lakers obviously made the wrong choice. Caruso later became a very outstanding rotation with the Bulls. Last season, he even replaced Gidey alone and helped the Thunder win the championship, which can also prove that he is really a championship puzzle.

2. Also in the summer of 2021, BR selected a top 24 players under the age of 24. Holden Tucker ranked 22nd, and Alexander, who was elected as the scoring champion + MVP + championship + FMVP this season.

3. The Lakers have great expectations for Horton Tucker, and even regard it as a non-sale product. Before the 2021-22 season trading ended, the Raptors proposed to exchange Lowry for Horton Tucker, but they were rejected by the Lakers.

Funny thing is that in the 2022 offseason, less than half a year after Lowry's trade failed, the Lakers sent Horton Tucker away, and even caught up with Stanley Johnson, only for Beverly.

For the Lakers, this transaction means "failure to train", and the three-year, 30.78 million contract was only performed for one year.

For Holden Tucker, joining the Jazz is not necessarily a bad thing, because the Jazz had just sent Mitchell and Gobert away and entered the reconstruction completely, but he did not seize the opportunity again.

In the first year of the Jazz, that is, the 2022-23 season, Horton Tucker averaged 10.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. It seems that the three data have improved compared to the Lakers' period, but the efficiency is still unpredictable. The three shooting percentage is 41.9%/28.6%/75.0% and the real shooting percentage is 50.8%.

The subsequent 2023-24 season, Horton Tucker still did not improve, averaging 10.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, with a real shooting percentage of only 50.3% - the real shooting percentage did not exceed 51% for three consecutive seasons, which is very bad.

After the end of this year, the Jazz did not give a contract renewal, and Holden Tucker joined the Bulls with a basic salary.

However, last season, Horton Tucker still didn't play well enough: he averaged 12.5 minutes per game, scored 6.5 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists, and shot 45.7%/33.6%/73.5% in three events.

So, during this offseason, Horton Tucker, who once again became a free agent, was directly ignored, and he could hardly even see half of the rumors. Now he is only 24 years old.

Judging from the situation in the free market this summer and the performance of Holden Tucker over the past years, it is indeed a bit difficult for him to continue to stay in the NBA. In this case, joining the European League is a good idea. If he can play in the European League, he still has the possibility of returning to the NBA in the future..

The most sighed was still the Lakers. I really missed it at the time, but to be honest, I can't blame the Lakers completely. After all, Caruso had just played in the low season, and Horton Tucker was a young player who "overwhelmed" the SGA. Now he has only been in four years, and he is really unthinkable to be so miserable.