Talen Horton-Tucker, the youngest of young vets, relishing chance with Jazz

SALT LAKE CITY — It started as a normal August day for Talen Horton-Tucker.

He spent time at the Los Angeles Lakers facility as he trained and prepared for his fourth year in the purple and gold. That evening, though, he was informed there wouldn't be a fourth season in LA; instead, he was traded to Utah.

"It was weird, but I was excited," Horton-Tucker said, as he recalled his first impression on the trade that brought him to the Jazz. "I was like, 'Man, I get an opportunity to start fresh and almost reinvent myself.' So just being able to have that, I was looking forward to it."

If it feels like Horton-Tucker's been around for a while, that's because he kind of has. This is only his fourth year in the league and he's already won a title and signed a semi-long-term deal — playing in the league's spotlight tends to make the years seem longer. Still, he doesn't feel like a veteran — not even a "young vet" as so many Jazz players have been referred to as this season.

Why? Well, he's just 21 years old.

Horton-Tucker will celebrate his 22nd birthday later this month, which will make him the same age as Jazz rookie forward Ochai Agbaji.

"Everybody's calling me the youngest vet ever," Horton-Tucker said. "I just kind of take it as just the opportunity and try to make the most of it."

On Friday, he'll return to Los Angeles, the place he started his NBA career as a wide-eyed 18 year old to face his former team for the first time (8:30 p.m. MDT, AT&T SportsNet).

Los Angeles was where he won a title and shared the court with one of the best players to ever play the game. It was where he saw the game played at the highest level — and also what it looked like when things went off the rails.

Interesting experience? For sure. Best situation to actually improve? Maybe not, which is why the move to Utah brought excitement. He joined a rebuilding team full of young players and had the weight of expectations lifted off him a bit. In Utah, he hopes to show that he can elevate his game to another level.

"Talen is a talented young player, and he has a lot of room to improve," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "I think that's kind of how we approach Talen is like there are things right now that he does well, and there are things right now that he can improve."

There's definitely talent there. Horton-Tucker has an impressive ability to get into the lane, almost bullying defenders to get to his spot. When there, though, things can get dicey. He has a tendency to settle for difficult fadeaways or tries for low-percentage layup attempts at the rim.

Yes, those can turn into highlight-reel plays, but more often than not, they end with his team sprinting back on defense.

So, yeah, there are things he does well and things he can improve on, but the Jazz have seen glimpses of the type of player he can become: a jack of all trades forward who can play just about anywhere on the perimeter.

In Utah's win over Houston last week, Horton-Tucker had 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists. With the Jazz in foul trouble, he stepped up into a role and played it beautifully. For Horton-Tucker, it's about finding ways to be that productive night in and night out.

"Just trying to continue to get better and just increase my consistency," he said. "Being able to be versatile for me team. I feel like that's something a team always needs."

That's something Hardy has preached to him since Horton-Tucker first arrived in Utah.

The combo forward is probably at his best with the ball in his hands, but the Jazz have plenty of ball handlers on the team. He simply won't be initiating the offense and running actions each time down the court, so Hardy is pushing him to develop the other parts of his game.

"The way that we're playing as a team, he's not just gonna get to be on the ball," Hardy said. "He is continuing to understand the reads and ways that he can impact the game off the ball. He works hard at it every day. He's watching film with our staff to try to adapt to a new role for him in how we're playing and how he fits in our system."

Horton-Tucker said he's still in the process of figuring out exactly where his skill sets fit in with Utah's scheme.

But the nice part to it all is Hardy expects some growing pains. In fact, the head coach thinks growth can come from making mistakes in games. The last thing Hardy wants to do is have players looking over their shoulder every time they make a bad pass or a bad read; he doesn't believe that's helpful to anyone.

As for Horton-Tucker, it's been helpful to play in a system that is less rigid and instead emphasizes freedom.

"The scheme really is trying to play as hard as we can. I feel like in LA we had a lot of older guys, so we had to really stick to the exact game plan but here it was, like we can fly around, use our youth," he said.

And he's still got plenty of that.

"Oh, yeah, I'm still 21 now, so I know I'm still probably the same age as rookies," he said. "So it's kind of funny. I feel like I got the opportunity earlier to start working on my game."

He appreciated his time with the Lakers and the chances it gave him. But will there be any emotions walking back into the building where he started his NBA life?

"I really don't know," he said. "I'm just ready to go play. Go win in LA. That's the thing I'm excited for."

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