Lakers waive Reggie Hearn to sign Marcus Allen

Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

The Lakers are continuing the carousel at the bottom of their roster, signing Marcus Allen and waiving Reggie Hearn, both of whom are likely to be teammates in South Bay this season.

The Reggie Hearn era in Los Angeles has officially come to an end. After just two days, the Lakers announced they’ve waived the 28-year-old guard to make room for Marcus Allen, who played with the team in summer league and was on their G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, last season.

Through 43 games, including 23 starts, Marcus Allen — not to be confused with his twin brother, Malcolm Allen — averaged 8.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 20.9 minutes per game with South Bay last season. While Allen could always put up Wilt Chamberlain numbers in the Lakers’ preseason finale on Friday and make the final, 17-man roster (including two two-way contract players), it’s far more likely he ends up in South Bay again.

While terms of Allen’s deal were not disclosed, per team policy, it’s safe to assume he signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Lakers. The Exhibit 10 contract allows teams to give players up to an extra $50,000 for signing with them for training camp, getting waived and subsequently joining their G League affiliate (in this case the South Bay Lakers).

Essentially, while Allen is taking Hearn’s spot for now, it is all but certain he will also eventually be cut when the Lakers trim their roster to 15 full-time players for the regular season, and that both players — along with David Stockton — will be teammates in the G League this season.

The Lakers have one final preseason game — again facing the Golden State Warriors — in San Francisco on Friday at 7:30 p.m. PST. They will then begin their season against the LA Clippers on Tuesday, Oct. 22.

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