I have two recommendations:
1. Spend the extra $10-20 on a chuck that uses a key for closing. Tommy bars are a pain and there are times when you need a third hand to use them. The key makes things easy.
2. Look for a chuck that uses an insert. There is nothing wrong with direct thread chucks but they are all for 1"-8 lathes. If you have a direct thread chuck and you ever upgrade your lathe to a 1-1/4"-8 lathe you'll need an adapter and that can lead to runout issues. If you have an insert chuck all you have to do is swap the insert. I ended up selling 4 direct thread chucks when I bought my new lathe because I didn't want to use an adapter.