The Los Angeles Lakers officially extended a qualifying offer to Talen Horton-Tucker, making the 20-year old swingman a restricted free agent for the first time in his NBA career.

The Lakers announced the move via press release on Thursday:

After spending most of his rookie season in the G-League, Horton-Tucker joined the Lakers for their championship run in the bubble and earned playoff minutes in their second-round series vs. the Houston Rockets.

As a sophomore, the former second-round pick (No. 46 in 2019) became a mainstay in Frank Vogel's rotation, averaging 16.2 points per 36 minutes. Horton-Tucker has proven adept at using his unique frame (6'4, 234 lbs., 7'1 wingspan!) to attack the basket and finish creatively around the rim, adding a valuable element to the Lakers often-stagnant offense.

His play-making only improved as the season progressed, too, as Los Angeles worked with him to create shots for others from his penetration. THT had four games with double-digit assists in the second half and bumped his dime rate from 1.9 to 3.7 per game after March 15.

At the trade deadline, Los Angeles refused to include him in a deal for Kyle Lowry. Considering that, it would be surprising to see the Lakers let him go this summer.

At exit interviews, Lakers GM Rob Pelinka named THT among the homegrown players he'd like to see come back in 2021-22. The Lakers have 10 free agents and limited cap space and trade assets as they look to upgrade their roster for LeBron James' 19th season.

THT's contract situation is tricky. Due to the Gilbert Arenas provision, other teams cannot offer more than the full midlevel exception ($8-9 million) for Horton-Tucker next season — depending on cap space — but can offer a heavily backloaded contract.

Per the Arenas rule, the Lakers can offer him more money than any team right now (up to $10.5 million this season) but might be unwilling to match an offer that pays THT the max for the final two years. A rival team could offer Horton-Tucker $9 million in 2021-22, $10 million the year after, then more than $30 million for each of the last two seasons.

Last month, one Eastern Conference executive surmised that Horton-Tucker could receive that max deal. If anything, a team could extend the offer just to raise the price tag for Los Angeles.

In 2024, THT will be up for another massive raise, at 24 years old, should he continue his impressive development. Horton-Tucker, smartly, has spent much of his summer getting shredded and training with Lakers assistant Phil Handy (and J. Cole).

The Lakers could include Horton-Tucker — their most valuable trade chip — in a sign-and-trade, though acquiring a player back via S&T triggers a hard cap, which would severely limit their options going forward. They could use him to land a player currently under contract, such as Russell Westbrook.

“I haven’t really thought about it as much cause it was during the season so I really wasn’t trying to give it too much train of thought,” Horton-Tucker said about his free agency in June. “But I appreciate the opportunity that I’ve had here. I just want to let my representation handle all that. I feel like they’ll steer me in the right direction, wherever it is.”

Horton-Tucker is represented by Klutch Sports, FWIW.

The deadline for submitting qualifying offers is the day after the NBA Finals. Free agency begins Aug. 2.