Lakers: Could Talen Horton-Tucker play his way into a key role?

Talen Horton-Tucker had a great start to the preseason. Could it lead to a role for the Los Angeles Lakers this season?

The Los Angeles Lakers opened up their preseason with a 87-81 win over the crosstown rival Clippers. Quite a few players did not suit up for the Lakers including their star duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Allowing other guys to show what they have and what role they could be after.

Playing only nine players allowed Frank Vogel to get an extended look as to what the bench could look like. One player that really stood out was Talen Horton-Tucker, who didn’t play much at all as a rookie, but just turned 20 years old and has a lot of potential.

He became the youngest player in NBA history to win a championship last season. Now he looks to fight his way into some minutes this season. If he continues the play he had last night, he could earn Vogel’s trust and play a factor this season.

In 37 minutes of play against the Clippers, THT finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. He was very active on both ends of the floor and flashed the potential that the Lakers see in him.

He displayed a variety of moves on offense and showed he improved his game over the offseason. The team had good things to say about him postgame and the trajectory is looking up for him for this season.

The Lakers possess a very deep team, one that could easily go 10 deep. But injuries happen, inconsistency happens, trades, bad chemistry, so it’s a good problem to have by having so many options. THT is just another one added to the array of talent the team has.

If he keeps it up, he could find himself playing meaningful minutes for the Lakers in two weeks.