Lakers Prince! Officially leave the NBA! Join the Turkish League for 1 million in one year

On September 2, according to multiple European basketball media reports, former Lakers player Horton Tucker joined the Turkish giant Fenerbahce for $1 million in one year. Tucker has been waiting for an NBA contract this offseason. The free market has been open for two months. He has not even received a training camp contract and has to go to overseas leagues.

Fenerbahce is a top European team and won the European Basketball League championship last season. With Tucker's shooting ability, he may not be able to become the team's thigh. In the past two years, many former Lakers have joined European teams, including Nunn (Greece's Panasinakos) and Kohl Sweed (Türkiye's Anatolia Efes).

You may not believe it. Horton Tucker is the fourth youngest champion in the NBA. When the Lakers won the championship in 2020, he was only 19 years old and 321 days. The first three historical figures are: Milicic is 18 years old and 361 days (2004 Pistons); Kuminga is 19 years old and 253 days (2022 Warriors); Topich is 19 years old and 316 days (2025 Thunder).

Horton Tucker's unique skill is to go against the basket, and he is therefore called the "anti-basketball prince" by fans. On September 5, 2024, the Bulls gave Tucker a training camp contract. Tucker averaged 13 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the preseason, and shot 40% from the field. On October 20, 2024, the Bulls turned their contract into regular and Tucker successfully stayed in the team. In the 2024-25 season, Tucker played 58 regular season games with the Bulls, averaging 12.5 minutes per game, scoring 6.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.4 steals and 0.7 turnovers, with three shooting percentages: 45.7%, 33.6%, 73.5%. The three-pointer was still not developed, and it fell out of rotation in the second half of the regular season, so the Bulls did not renew his contract.

Horton Tucker was born on November 25, 2000. He is currently under 25 years old. He is 1.93 meters tall and has a wingspan of 2.17 meters. In the 2019 NBA Draft, the Magic selected Horton Tucker with the 46th pick and traded him to the Lakers for a future second-round pick and a cash. In his rookie season, Tucker only played 6 games and won the championship. In the second year of his career, that is, the 2020-21 season, Tucker played 65 regular season games with the Lakers, averaging 20.1 minutes per game, scoring 9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1 steal, with three shooting percentages: 45.8%, 28.2%, and 77.5%. At that time, he had become a stable rotation member, and the management even regarded Tucker as the cornerstone of the team building.

Caruso and Tucker both face renewal issues during the 2021 offseason. At that time, the Lakers only gave Caruso $14 million for two years. Caruso contacted the management twice, hoping to increase the annual salary or increase the contract years, but the Lakers refused! Caruso can only join the Bulls for 4 years and $37 million, and the Lakers immediately renewed Tucker for 3 years and $31 million!

Now compare the situation of the two people: Caruso won a four-year, $81 million contract with the Thunder, and won the championship with the Thunder this summer; 24-year-old Tucker was ignored and had to leave the NBA. Throughout his NBA career, Tucker averaged 9.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.4 turnovers per game, with three shooting percentages: 42.7%, 29.9%, and 77.1%.

Do you think Tucker can still play back to the NBA?