Former NBA champion gave compliments to a Lakers players

The Los Angeles Lakers have been very passive during the offseason. Signing LeBron James to a two-year extension has been their biggest move so far. But it seems that a player already on the roster could be the one that helps the team the most. According to former NBA champion Tony Allen, Talen-Horton Tucker is the real deal.

Talen Horton-Tucker has played 3 seasons for the Lakers. He has averaged 9.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 131 regular-season games. He was part of the Lakers NBA championship during the 2019-20 season. But most of that season, he played in the G-League with the South Bay Lakers, where he had an encounter with Tony Allen.

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“I saw him in the G League and he killed it,” Allen started. “He had like 20 at halftime. I’m like, ‘He's with us.’ He looked at me and said, ‘I don’t even belong down here.’ … He hit a three next play down, looked dead at me. I said, ‘that boy is real.'”, explained the 3-time all-defensive team during an interview in a podcast.

In the end, the Lakers are betting everything on their young talent, Talen Horton-Tucker included, being going to be the focal point of the team. Of course, this team is still run by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but as we have seen during this offseason, the front office let go their veterans and signed new young players.

Should the Lakers run it with the players they have?

Rob Pelinka bet everything he had to bring Kyrie Irving to Los Angeles. In the end, his bets didn't pay off as the all-star player was going to stay in Brooklyn. Now they are looking elsewhere to add talent, but so far they haven't made a real offer. They might run it with the roster they already have, but that could be a mistake.