Jazz G Talen Horton-Tucker Reveals Biggest Offseason Goal

The Utah Jazz guard has a critical summer looming ahead.

Apr 9, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz guard Talen Horton-Tucker (5) drives the ball / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

Now that the 2023-24 NBA season has come to a close for the Utah Jazz, it's the perfect time for players to get back in the lab and hone their craft ahead of next year.

We've seen countless examples of guys going into the summer hungry to put in significant work and come out looking like a completely transformed player. The Jazz's own Lauri Markkanen is a perfect example of this, considering he took home the 2022-23 Most Improved Player after a busy offseason in Finland.

Now, there's a chance we could see another Jazzman attempt to add some serious improvements to their game, that being Talen Horton-Tucker. After a shaky second season in Salt Lake City, a strong summer could be just what the 2019 second-round pick needs to get back on his feet.

During his end-of-season media availability, Horton-Tucker was asked about what he'd like to see himself work on this offseason, where he voiced a strong emphasis on improving his efficiency.

"I just want to continue to get better on my efficiency. Taking the right shots at the right time, hunting the right ones, really just overall efficiency for me. Once I continue to take the right ones, the numbers will actually go up, and I'll actually get the opportunity to play. You watch a lot of film. Practice the shots you're supposed to shoot. It's really more watching film, honestly. Breaking it down and knowing where and when you're going to be at, knowing where you're going to get shots at."

While he carved out a starting role at the beginning of the season, Horton-Tucker got gradually phased out in favor of other guards like Keyonte George and Kris Dunn, largely due to some shooting inconsistencies. To end the year, he finished shooting 39.6% from the field and 33.0% from three.

Efficiency can be a tricky part of the game for young guards to get down, and it's been an area of struggle for Horton-Tucker throughout his career. Being a career sub-30% three-point shooter makes it difficult for him to be a consistent contributor on the offensive side of the ball, further limiting his playing time in coach Will Hardy's system.

THT still possesses substantial positive traits that dishes optimism for him to become a rotational guard, but without the ability to knock down shots at a high level, it becomes a massive limitation to his overall ceiling. Based on his presser, it seems that it'll be a considerable area of focus across the coming months, but only time will tell how the results pan out going forward.

Horton-Tucker's future in SLC amid his expiring contract might be unknown, but at least we know what improvements to expect from the five-year veteran going into 2024-25.

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