Los Angeles Lakers: Players hurt the most by the postponed NBA season

The NBA season has been on a hiatus for over a month and basketball fans are licking at their chops to see the league back in action. Unfortunately, while nothing is concrete, every passing day it seemingly becomes less and less likely that we will see the Los Angeles Lakers in action.

If this was one of the previous six seasons then it would not have been as upsetting for Laker fan.s Those years were lottery years anyway and not playing the playoffs or the final 15 or so games of the season would not have really changed anything.

However, the Lakers were arguably the favorites to win the NBA Championship when the season was postponed, fresh off of two huge back-to-back wins against the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers. They very well could have had a title taken away from them.

And while it hurts for LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard and anyone whose legacy would have been impacted by a championship, it does have everlasting effects on two Lakers, in particular, that often gets overlooked.

The two Los Angeles Lakers hurt the most by the postponed NBA season:

Markieff Morris and Dion Waiters, the two players with the least amount of playing time on the team this season. The two buyout signings that were going to compete to help the team’s depth down the stretch and compete for a roster spot.

These two were not just competing for a roster spot on the 2019-2020 Lakers. Their performance in the last 15 games of the season, plus the playoffs, was going to impact their immediate future in the league. Without those games, they are stuck in no-mans land.

Morris could have been someone that the Lakers brought back on a mid-level exception and very well could have taken Kyle Kuzma‘s role with the team and been a much better fit stylistically. He is a much better three-point shooter and defender than Kuzma.

That would have opened up the possibility of things such as trades. However, in not getting a big enough sample size in how Morris plays with the Lakers, the team cannot fully commit to him and throw caution to the wind and shop Kuzma.

The same could be said for Waiters. The Lakers need a secondary ball-handler moving forward as Rajon Rondo has not been great this season and while he has a player option, he might not even be on the team next season.

Waiters could have been a great addition to the team to essentially be the playmaker when LeBron James is on the bench. Better yet, Waiters is a better off-ball asset than Rondo is, making him a much better fit stylistically as well.

This lay-off hurts more for Waiters as virtually has not played this season and this final run with the Lakers was a chance to not just prove the Lakers that he could be a fit, but to prove to the league that he is worth pursuing in the offseason.

This could end up being a positive thing for the Los Angeles Lakers, as maybe they sign him to an extremely cheap contract, but I would not bet on it. Not getting to see Waiters at all and Morris enough to see how they gel is going to impact how the team conducts the offseason.