NBA Rumors: LA Lakers front-runners along with city-rivals for the signing of Markieff Morris
2019-20 NBA Champion and twin brother of Marcus Morris, Markieff Morris has been linked with multiple teams over the past few days. However, as per latest NBA rumors, it seems his last team LA Lakers and brother Marcus' LA Clippers are the 2 front-runners to sign him this offseason.
Marcus Morris recently resigned with the LA Clippers, which was followed by reports indicating that Markieff might be looking to join him. However, the LA Lakers, who signed him on trade deadline last season, are also interested in resigning him according to recent NBA Rumors. The 2019-20 NBA Champions need to fill out the remaining spots on their roster and Markieff is seen as someone who will fit perfectly alongside Dennis Schröder and Montrezl Harrell coming off the bench.
NBA Rumors: LA Lakers want to resign Markieff Morris
Prior to the Orlando Bubble, Markieff Morris didn't get much game time. However once the season restarted, and especially in the NBA Playoffs, his minutes went up instantly as LA Lakers used different combinations to keep their opponents guessing all through-out the run.
The LA Lakers utilised his abilities brilliantly as he clocked in a career-high 21 games in a single postseason. The strange stat here, he played 7 more post-seson games than regular season.
Morris was also one of the LA Lakers' reliable three-point shooters, shooting 42% from deep on over 3.5 attempts per game.
Even after bagging Montrezl Harrell in free agency, the LA Lakers' interest in re-signing Markieff Morris hasn't depleted. Over the recent season, the Battle of the LA is something everyone has talked about. The fact that the Champions managed to snag reigning 'Sixth Man of the Year' Montrezl Harell in free-agency would have definitely not gone down with their city-rivals.
Even though Montrezl Harrell struggled in the playoffs as LA Clippers suffered a humiliating second-round exit, his regular season performance was one of the main reasons why Doc Rivers and his team were considered by many as favorites going into the bubble.
The LA Lakers are also not a great three-point shooting team. The team ranked an abysmal 21st in the league in three-point percentage, averaging less than 35% from beyond the arc. After the team traded Danny Green, one of their premier three-point shooters, their inclination to re-sign Markieff Morris shouldn't be a surprise.
One of Markieff Morris' highlight games was when he was 4-4 in three pointers made with 16 points against Houston Rockets in the 2020 Western Conference Semi-Finals. The LA Lakers outscored the Houston Rockets in three pointers made, a surprising feat given how lethal the latter was all through-out the regular season.
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