Orlando Magic 2019 NBA Draft Preview: Talen Horton-Tucker shows promise, lacks sizzle

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Talen Horton-Tucker, Iowa State Cyclones

AMES, IA – MARCH 9: Talen Horton-Tucker #11 of the Iowa State Cyclones drives the ball as Davide Moretti #25 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders puts pressure on in the first half of play at Hilton Coliseum on March 9, 2019 in Ames, Iowa. The Texas Tech Red Raiders won 80-73 over the Iowa State Cyclones. (Photo by David K Purdy/Getty Images) /

Strengths

Literal Strength

The first thing that pops out at you when you watch Horton-Tucker play is his build.

He is a compact tank with go-go gadget arms. Honestly, he is quite a jarring player to look at because there just are not many guys in the world that have the kind of build that he has.

At the NBA Draft Combine, he weighed in at 235.4 pounds with 8.4 percent body fat. His physical makeup speaks to a player who is much taller and bigger than someone at 6-foot-4.

Does Horton-Tucker use the tank and lank build? The answer for the most part is yes. Horton Tucker is a very strong player who routinely sheds contact in one on one situations.

Take a look at this clip:

You can see here Horton-Tucker freezes the larger defender with a little in and out move and then just bulldozes through him for the basket.

This becomes a common theme about his offensive game.

Here Horton-Tucker just puts his head down, creates the contact and his strength creates separation.

On top of using his strength to bully guys, notice Horton-Tucker also finished these plays off by converting the bucket. According to Hoop-Math, Horton-Tucker shot 70.3% at the rim this season for Iowa State.

Floater Game/Catch and Drive

Not only does Horton-Tucker have great strength at the rim but he also shows off some variety when attacking the rim.

There is a lot to like in this clip. The first thing you see is Horton-Tucker using the pump fake to get the defender off his feet.

The next thing to notice is his extremely controlled read of the defense. He makes a fluid dribble, sees the big man in his path and puts up a floater over the defender off the glass.

This was not a one time thing for Horton-Tucker, it certainly seems to be part of his bag of tricks:

Here once again we see Horton-Tucker use the pump fake on the defender. Then he takes a dribble, reads the defense, and throws up a floater over the rotating defender.

Here is another Horton-Tucker drive off the catch:

While he misses the shot here he makes the play confidently. He maximizes his extension and he just misses in a crowded paint. The drive was coordinated and he made a really nice move but the finish just didn’t cut it.

You can certainly see the potential for a drive game off the catch.

Body Control

The next thing about Horton-Tucker that jumps out was his body control around the rim.

Horton-Tucker can sometimes get wild with some of the contortions he does with his body but most of the time he tries to maximize his extension and utilize that incredible wingspan.

Here we see Horton-Tucker beat his man off the catch and make a controlled drive to the basket. He sees the defender in the way, creates contact but contorts his body to the point where nobody can impact the shot and he gets it to fall.

This play displays more of the soft touch that Horton-Tucker displays around the rim.

Here is another clip showing off his body control:

Here Horton-Tucker takes contact from the bigger defender, hangs in the air as long as he possibly can, and then fully extends his arms and puts the ball in the basket.