Former Los Angeles Lakers wing Talen Horton-Tucker just signed with Fenerbahce, ending his NBA career (for now), and in a very roundabout way, it should make Miami Heat fans crack up laughing. They don’t have a direct connection to Horton-Tucker, but the Lakers’ unwillingness to trade him gifted Kyle Lowry to the Miami Heat.
Now, just a few years later, Horton-Tucker is on his way out of the NBA, and Precious Achiuwa, who the Heat ended up trading for Lowry, is back in Miami. Sometimes, the basketball world works out in hilarious ways, and in this instance, Heat fans can make a mockery of the Lakers.
Even if it’s for a convoluted reason.
What happened with Talen-Horton Tucker and Kyle Lowry?
Back in 2021, when Lowry was reportedly being shopped by the Toronto Raptors (or at least, they were discussing trades for the All-Star point guard), the Lakers were very interested.
Lowry could have been a solid fit as the point guard next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis as they looked to recapture the glory that they found in The Bubble.
Horton-Tucker, the Lakers’ second-round pick in 2019, was still a young, intriguing prospect, and the Raptors supposedly wanted him to be included in the deal.
LA refused. Instead, they let the chance to trade for Lowry slip through their fingers and went on to extend Horton-Tucker, who they just ended up trading to the Utah Jazz in the summer of 2022.
Meanwhile, the Heat were also interested in Lowry, and they eventually landed him in a trade the summer after LA failed to make a deal happen at the deadline. They shipped out Achiuwa, who was a solid young prospect for Miami at the time, in the deal to Toronto.
But obviously, Horton-Tucker didn’t work out in LA. And while it will never be known if Lowry could have helped James and Davis make a deep playoff run, he almost certainly would have been more useful than Horton-Tucker.
Lowry was a big minutes player for the Heat for a little while, and though injuries held him back from being his full self, Miami did manage to make a run to the Eastern Conference finals while he was in town. He played 26.0 minutes per contest during their 2023 Finals run.
Now, four years after the Lakers foolishly held onto Horton-Tucker and the Heat gave up Achiuwa in the Lowry deal, Horton-Tucker is out of the NBA, and Achiuwa is back in Miami.
That’s quite the twist of fate.