The Utah Jazz are clearly better off without Talen Horton-Tucker

Talen Horton-Tucker has fallen out of the rotation for the Utah Jazz. It happened in their last game against the San Antonio Spurs, with Horton-Tucker recording a "Did Not Play" or as the kids call it, a DNP. The move was seen as a cautious one at first, Horton-Tucker was dealing with a minor injury but it's since come out that he was good to go, Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy just opted not to use him.

And for good reason. Horton-Tucker isn't a talentless player, but he is someone who is hard to justify using. He provides decent defense while being able to rebound and pass. He's a less effective Kris Dunn when you look at comparable skillsets, and Dunn has value. So clearly Horton-Tucker should have value too, right?

Well, the big difference between Dunn and Horton-Tucker is their understanding of their limitations. Dunn knows he's not a great shooter, so he often doesn't try to go over the top with his shot selections. He knows who to pass to, and he knows who the better shooters are in certain circumstances.

It's not uncommon to see Dunn only take five or seven shots in a game. Horton-Tucker, on the other hand, has a similar lack of consistency with his shot, but far more hubris than Dunn. Horton-Tucker will not only be among the players with the most shot attempts on the team, he's often the worst shooter on the squad as well.

So it's bad enough when you have guys like Jordan Clarkson taking 14 shots in a game, but at least he's had historical relevance enough to warrant him taking those shots. He's going to hit a bulk of them sometimes. Horton-Tucker, however, shoots nearly as often as Clarkson but hits far less often.

That lack of a shot and the desire to take it, regardless of whether he can hit it or not, is why Horton-Tucker is on the bench now, and the Jazz are better for it.