The Lakers may have missed out on signing Marcus Morris, who opted to join their crosstown rivals, but they're close to signing his twin brother, Markieff Morris, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported Friday. That's basically the same thing, right? Well, not exactly.
Marcus Morris, who started the season with the Knicks, is in the midst of the best season of his career, averaging a career-high 19.0 points on 43.2 percent shooing from 3-point range and pulling down 5.4 boards per game. He gives the Clippers an immediate upgrade over Moe Harkless as an equally capable defender on the wing with much better offensive output.
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Markieff Morris, who was bought out by the Pistons on Thursday, doesn't pack the same offensive punch as his brother, but he's still more than capable of being a contributor for the Lakers. He's averaging 11.0 points per game on a career-high 39.7 percent from 3. The only Laker currently shooting a higher percentage from outside is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (41.5 percent).
Morris could easily slot into the Lakers' regular rotation of big men, which currently consists of Anthony Davis, JaVale McGee, Dwight Howard and occasionally Kyle Kuzma as a small-ball four. Morris' addition will also allow Kuzma to get more minutes at small forward, his more natural position.
While he'll likely serve as the backup to Davis at power forward, his ability to stretch the defense gives him more offensive value than McGee and Howard and would allow the Lakers to play small ball without a center to match up with a team like the Rockets in the postseason. Morris isn't the most consistent defender, especially when playing at the five, but he's capable of guarding big wings, and a change of scenery might just be the spark he needs to improve on that end.
It's not the ideal move for the Lakers, especially with their first option going to the team most favored to challenge them in the Western Conference playoffs, but it's one that gives them much-needed depth and allows them to be more flexible in their style of play.