Lakers Rumors: Talen Horton-Tucker Drawing Interest from Knicks, Mavs, Cavs

The Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks and New York Knicks are reportedly among the teams expected to pursue Los Angeles Lakers breakout sensation Talen Horton-Tucker as a restricted free agent during the 2021 NBA offseason.

Sean Deveney of Heavy reported Monday that Horton-Tucker could receive a "very hefty" offer that would be difficult for the Lakers to match.

"The way the rules are, I don't see the Lakers letting him go," an NBA general manager told Deveney. "But teams can make this a more difficult decision for the Lakers than they'd like. Teams that have a lot of cap space and are looking to gamble on a young guy, why not put your money into him? The upside is obvious."

Horton-Tucker, a second-round pick in the 2019 NBA draft, made just six appearances for the Lakers during a rookie season he split between L.A. and the South Bay Lakers, the team's G League affiliate.

The 20-year-old shooting guard was given some extended run during the preseason before the 2020-21 campaign as the Lakers rested some veterans coming off a title run that ended in mid-October, and the Chicago native opened a lot of eyes.

His best performance was a 33-point outing against the rival Los Angeles Clippers, and his play during the exhibition slate earned him a spot in the Lakers' rotation to open regular season.

The Iowa State product is averaging 8.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting 48.4 percent from the field across 10 appearances off the bench this season. He's playing 16.9 minutes per game.

Los Angeles should have some financial flexibility heading into the offseason with six players set to become unrestricted free agents and two others, Horton-Tucker and Kostas Antetokounmpo, entering restricted free agency.

In turn, the Lakers will probably work to keep Horton-Tucker and allow him to split time with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope at shooting guard.

It's possible another team like Cleveland, Dallas or New York could make a big-money offer that at least forces L.A. to think twice about matching, especially since it'll have other holes to fill on the roster behind the superstar tandem of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but it'll be hard to let Horton-Tucker go.

"He does it on both sides of the floor," James said about Horton-Tucker after Sunday's win over the Houston Rockets. "And then he just listens. He's a sponge. Whatever you say to him, he's going to apply it. He's going to accept, first, and then he's going to apply it right away. There's not that many young guys that can take something on the fly and then make it happen the very next play."

The Lakers are back in action Tuesday for a rematch with the Rockets. Tipoff at the Toyota Center is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on NBA TV.