On January 26, the Lakers beat the Nets 106-96, and the Purple and Gold Army regrouped the Big Three lineup, and James continued his outstanding performance. Still, Tarren Horton Tucker is in a slump, scoring no point on 0-of-6 shooting. Tucker Jr. has been in a slump for three consecutive games. The Lakers renewed Tucker Jr.'s contract for $31 million for three years last offseason, but the loss was large.
Tucker Jr. shot 1-of-4 from the game against the Magic on Jan. 22, 1-of-5 from the Heat on Jan. 24, and 0-of-6 from the game, and Tucker Jr. shot 2-of-15 from three games.
The Lakers originally saw Tucker Jr. as the team's future hope, a potential stock that could be one of the team's protagonists, but unfortunately he did not advance and retreat in the third season, his shooting ability was not trained, and his defense and passing did not improve.
The Lakers had to let Caruso go for him, even though there were many people in the team management who loved Caruso. After Caruso received the Bulls' offer, he once communicated with the Lakers to give the Lakers the opportunity to match the offer, and his first wish was to stay with the Lakers. But the Lakers chose Tucker Jr. and didn't match the offer. Caruso had to go to the Bulls.
Now it seems that if the Lakers keep Caruso, the team's defense will definitely be better this season. You know, Caruso has been an important puzzle piece on the Lakers' defensive end for the past two seasons.
The current market for Tucker Jr. is bad, and the Pistons rejected the Lakers' offer for Tucker Jr. + Nunn + first-round picks. Previously, according to US media reports, the Lakers used The Little Tucker + Nunn + first round to sign a crazy offer for the whole league, but no one agreed.
Tucker Jr. is now in a slump, and other teams are increasingly afraid to bring him in. The Lakers are also uncomfortable, and if his state continues to be sluggish, $31 million is equivalent to throwing away in vain.