Lakers rumors: Three reasons to love the idea of Tony Allen
By Keith Rivas
He’s a veteran the young core could learn from
When it comes to grooming a talented core, a missing piece more often than not is a strong veteran presence. The Lakers tried to fill that void last summer, but that turned into two very bad contracts.
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Both Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng were supposed to be leaders on the floor and in the locker room. Instead, they were both deactivated well before the season was even over.
Questions remain about whether or not Mozgov is even worthy of starting, and Deng is on his way out as well.
On the other hand, Tony Allen would be one of those veteran guys that knows how to mesh well with the younger players. A twelve year veteran of the league, Allen has demonstrated in Memphis anything and everything about his game.
What he brings to the table could be more than Lou Williams last season. We saw from the stellar bench play how Williams was able to constantly orchestrate magic.
He’s got a lot of experience to offer this young core. Especially if D’Angelo Russell transitions to the two guard after the draft.
The Lakers have been needing Russell to step up and be that dependable leader they drafted him to be, too. Allen can definitely grow Russell in that area, while contributing in his own right.