Jazz top man terminates his contract and reveals some reasons.
Guard Talen Horton-Tucker of the Utah Jazz will soon be a free agency and will start shopping for a new deal in the NBA. However, TMZ Sports reports that before he could even sign a new deal, he already suffered a significant financial loss when his home was broken into and jewelry valued at an estimated $170,000 was taken by the suspects.
As of this writing, no video of the aforementioned event is available, although according to TMZ Sports, at least some of it was captured on camera.
We’ve been informed that the break-in, or a portion of it, was indeed caught on camera. demonstrating the burglar breaking over a back fence to enter the home and then exiting through one of the side yards of the house.
It must hurt, even for a multimillionaire professional athlete, to have such valuable goods stolen. Despite the fact that the soon-to-be free agency Jazz guard wasn’t home when the robbery occurred, at least nobody was wounded on the scene. Only after a house sitter discovered the intruder, was the home invasion reported to the authorities. According to TMZ Sports, no one has been taken into custody in connection with the event yet.
A handful of Jazz players have contracts that are about to expire, including Horton-Tucker. Other Utah assets Kira Lewis Jr., Kris Dunn, Luka Samanic, and Micah Potter are scheduled to become restricted or unrestricted free agents. The former standout player for the Iowa State Cyclones moved to Salt Lake City in the summer of 2022 after being traded by the Los Angeles Lakers to the Jazz in exchange for Patrick Beverley, along with Stanley Johnson. Through that agreement with the Lakers, the Jazz also received a trade exception.
It is unlikely that Horton-Tucker would stay with the Jazz; he may be able to sign a far better contract with a different team than Utah is likely to be ready to offer. Horton-Tucker was eligible to remain in Utah during the 2023–24 NBA season by choosing to exercise his $11.02 million player option. Considering his lackluster 2023–24 Jazz season, he might have trouble landing a long-term contract with an average yearly salary of more than $10 million. The Jazz own Horton-Tucker’s bird exception, for what that’s worth.
Horton-Tucker has spent the last two seasons mostly serving as the Jazz’s backup guard. He was chosen by the Orlando Magic with the 16th overall pick in the second round of the 2019 NBA Draft. When wearing a Jazz uniform, Horton-Tucker averaged 10.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists over 116 games.
Even though Horton-Tucker is a versatile player, his ineffective methods on the attacking end of the court limit his value. Since joining the league, he has made just 29.3 percent of his field goals from beyond the arc, with a lifetime field goal percentage of 42.3. In addition, his lifetime effective field goal percentage of 47.2 and true shooting percentage of 51.3 are both low.
Horton-Tucker is only 23 years old, so the Jazz may be able to hold onto him in the hopes that he’ll develop into a more potent player in the future at a low cost.
