Los Angeles Lakers make Markieff Morris, DeMarcus Cousins moves official
The roster moves for the Los Angeles Lakers involving Markieff Morris and DeMarcus Cousins have become official, as Cousins was waived to make room for Morris.
The Los Angeles Lakers have decided to shake up their roster a little bit. After not making a move prior to the NBA Trade Deadline, the organization has dipped into the buyout market to strengthen the roster.
After securing a buyout from the Detroit Pistons, the Lakers have agreed to a deal with veteran big man, Markieff Morris. After missing out on his twin brother, Marcus Morris, at the deadline, the team moved quickly to land Markieff.
Morris cleared waivers on Sunday. The team used the $1.75 million disabled player exception they received from DeMarcus Cousins being injured. Morris, who had some money on his contract with the Pistons for the 2020-21 season, left $4.3 million on the table to receive his buyout according to ESPN.
However, to sign Morris, a corresponding move needed to be made. With the roster maxed out, someone had to be waived, and that person will be Cousins.
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Cousins is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in August. He has been working hard, even recently discussing how he was hopeful he would return early enough to help the team during a playoff push and spoke highly of the organization.
While Cousins will be waived to make room for Morris, he will remain around the team as he continues rehabbing his knee injury. Cousins was a very popular person in the locker room, so there are some reports that the team will re-sign him next season.
Bringing Cousins back would be a show of good faith from the Lakers. The team had high hopes for him when they signed him, but he was unable to get on the court this season because of the injuries.
Now, the Lakers will have some added depth in the frontcourt with Morris taking Cousins’ spot. Morris brings some versatility to the table for Frank Vogel to use. The team has another option to deploy in small-ball lineups, something they have sometimes struggled playing against.
Morris is shooting a career-high 39.7 percent from the 3-point line, giving the team another floor spacer to surround LeBron James and Anthony Davis with.
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Vogel will now be able to deploy similar concepts that he was planning to use with Cousins now that he has a more offensive-minded player that can soak up some minutes at the center spot.