Los Angeles Lakers: Ranking the players on the 2019-2020 roster (15-11)

13.) Talen Horton-Tucker

Talen Horton-Tucker was the Lakers first and only draft selection, in a pick they bought from the Orlando Magic on draft night. With a player like Tucker, the potential is the most intriguing aspect.

Standing at only 6’4″, Tucker would appear to be undersized as a wing, but possesses a 7’1 wingspan to make up for this. With these physical tools at his disposal it’s hard to imagine that Tucker will struggle on the defensive end, aside from the common rookie mistakes such as positioning, switching, etc.

Tucker is still only 18-years-old, which gives him plenty of room to grow as a player, and will have some of the best minds to learn from in LeBron James and Anthony Davis. However, Tucker’s shooting is a real concern, as his three-point shooting average during his time at Iowa State was only 30.8 percent.

But the defensive potential is why I have Tucker ahead of a more established player like Daniels, even if he has yet to play a single minute in the NBA. With so many different scoring options at the Lakers’ disposal already, having a defensive specialist might prove to be more valuable than a player like Daniels, who provides solid offense, but little to no defense.

A lot of Tucker’s development as a player is going to depend on how deep Coach Vogel wants to go into his bench in the regular season. But Tucker should still see time in the G-League, and will get his opportunities here and there as injuries and rest days start to manifest themselves throughout the course of the regular season.