Former Centennial star Marcus Allen one step away from NBA

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Sunday, Dec. 23, 2018 | 2 a.m.

A year ago, Marcus Allen couldn’t have been further away from the NBA.

After going undrafted in 2017, the Las Vegas product’s best pro offer came from Finland. So Allen packed his bags and headed north. Way north. Arctic Circle-north.

Now Allen is back in Las Vegas, but this time he’s on the cusp of realizing his NBA dream. His strong performance in the Finnish league drew the attention of NBA scouts, and Allen signed with the South Bay Lakers of the G-League over the summer.

On Thursday he was in town to participate in the league’s mid-season showcase at Mandalay Bay. Allen has started 11 of 14 games for the Lakers this season, averaging 9.4 points and 1.2 steals in 25.4 minutes per game.

The fact that he’s one step away from the NBA is not lost on Allen.

“You’re around guys on the team who are on two-way contracts and guys who are assignees, and they’re in the NBA, so you always feel like you’re playing NBA competition,” Allen said. “I think it’s just awesome to be out here in this environment every night and in practice.”

Allen credits his seven months in Finland for making him a better player and a more attractive prospect to NBA types. After claiming Gatorade State Player of the Year honors as a senior at Centennial in 2013, Allen took on a lesser offensive role during his time at Stanford, topping out at 11.1 points per game as a junior in 2015-16. As a senior, he scored 8.2 points, fourth on the team.

When he got to Finland, however, he got the green light. In 24 games in the Korisliiga, Allen pumped in 16.4 points per game while making 49.2 percent of his shots and 40.3 percent of his 3-pointers. For the first time in half a decade, Allen was a volume scorer — and he liked it.

Allen said expanding his offensive game was critical to his development as a professional.

“Being over there helped me offensively, I think,” Allen said. “I was able to be the go-to guy for once, and it has helped my confidence just scoring the ball. Going out there and being able to shoot a bunch of 3’s and do a bunch of things like [using] ball screens really helped me evolve as an offensive player.”

Allen said the Finnish league also taught him a lot about life as a professional athlete.

“It went well, other than being cold,” Allen said with a laugh. “The experience was great. The fans were awesome. Of course playing well helps, too, but it was a great experience. The guys who were local took me in. The American veterans brought me in, too, so it was a cool start to my professional career.”

While Allen enjoyed his time as a star scorer in Finland, he’s not tempted to revert back to that style just because hundreds of NBA front-office types are watching from the stands this weekend. He figures his best bet for an NBA call-up is to play tough and show he can produce in any role that might be available.

“The mindset is simple,” he said. “I think it’s just come in and try to win games and help the team as much as possible. There’s no focus other than to come in, play hard and help the team win.”

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.