2. Talen Horton-Tucker is talented on both ends of the floor
Talen Horton-Tucker is going to succeed in the league for this reason alone. It is easy to get excited about a young player that has a smooth three-point stroke or can make some highlight passes. It is also easy to get excited about a blue-chipper defender that can disrupt on the defensive side of the court.
However, unless those players can also contribute (or learn to contribute) on the other side of the floor then they won’t blossom into legitimate rotation players. Of course, there are the examples of blessed offensive players that are terrible defensively, but those offensive players are extremely blessed — think Trae Young or Lou Williams.
THT is already showing the capabilities to be an asset on both ends of the court and that is naturally going to give him the early-career playing time that he needs to blossom into a true rotation player.
He was great on both ends in college and that has translated thus far in the short time we have seen him in the NBA. Again, it is just a preseason game, but he was impressive both offensively and defensively and was also impressive in the short time we saw him in the NBA bubble as well.
There are examples of players making it work. Alex Caruso worked on the offensive side of the ball, and while he is still better defensively, he took his game to the next step to become a player that the Lakers could confidently put in the rotation.
THT already has that two-way skillset. So even if he does not reach his potential ceiling, he will eventually blossom into a backend rotation player, at the very least, because he is good on both ends.