HONOLULU, HAWAII - OCTOBER 8: Talen Horton-Tucker #5 of the Utah Jazz brings the ball up court during the second half of the preseason game against the Los Angeles Clippers at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center on October 8, 2023 in Honolulu, Hawaii. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
Talen Horton-Tucker starting doesn’t makes sense for the Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz started Talen Horton-Tucker against the LA Clippers, but why?
The Utah Jazz have seemingly thrown everyone for a loop when the rumored lineup of Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler, Lauri Markkanen, and John Collins, playing around Collin Sexton or Kris Dunn was upended for Talen Horton-Tucker replacing Clarkson and Sexton starting next to Horton-Tucker.
Why? Spoiler, we don’t know. It was one of the more perplexing calls and a decision that honestly doesn’t make a lot of sense. Unless, of course, the idea is to make Horton-Tucker look as good as possible for a future trade. But if that’s not the reason, there’s no reasonable one that makes sense.
Horton-Tucker shot just 42% from the floor, 29% from three, and 75% from the free-throw line, while also finishing 15th on the team in BPM with a -1.6. Before being discontinued, his RAPTOR wasn’t great either, finishing the 2022-2023 season with just a -1.1 grade on offense and a -0.1 grade on defense.
Horton-Tucker is terrible on offense, and this isn’t new, he’s been bad on offense for his entire career. In his four years in the league, he’s never finished with a positive note on RAPTOR, or via his OBPM. His defense, is not much better, outside of his first six games in the league, he’s had a negative DBPM for his career.
And if the argument was; “Oh, he’s playing because of his size/passing/defense”, one would argue; is he? Yes, he’s 6’4, but Kris Dunn is 6’3, so height has nothing to do with it.
If it’s his passing, Horton-Tucker averaged just under four assists a game, with nearly two turnovers to match. Dunn had 5.6 assists per game to only 1.6 turnovers. So Horton-Tucker isn’t starting due to his passing.
If it’s the defense, again, Dunn was first on the team in DBPM, just ahead of Walker Kessler and Jarred Vanderbilt, two defensive-minded players. Horton-Tucker? 14th. Dunn had a BPM of +1.7, while Horton Tucker had a BPM of -0.5. A difference of 2.2 is a pretty massive difference.
If you want a more offensive-minded player, Clarkson and Sexton make so much more sense. If you want a more defensive-minded option, Dunn makes more sense. And while Horton-Tucker is a better defensive option over Sexton and Clarkson by a mile, his defense isn’t so good that putting him in the starting lineup makes you better without Sexton and or Clarkson.
So why is Horton-Tucker starting against the Clippers and probably for at least the foreseeable future? Who knows, because it makes no sense.
