Los Angeles Lakers that may have played their last game in LA
By Jason Reed
Markieff Morris: Stay
I was really impressed with Markieff Morris in the NBA Playoffs as he lived up to the best-case expectations that I had for him when the Lakers originally brought him in. While Morris was not fantastic before he came to LA this season, he provided another three-point shooting option with size to this bench.
Morris was fantastic in the purple and gold. He was very important for the team in the series against the Houston Rockets and helped Frank Vogel counter the Rockets’ micro-ball gameplan by playing Morris as center.
While he was not elite defensively and he was torched a few times by Jimmy Butler in the NBA Finals, Morris played more than solid-enough defense and shot well enough to keep him on the floor. Morris finished the NBA Playoffs averaging 5.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game with 42 percent three-point shooting.
That is the important number. Morris shot 42 percent from beyond the arc on 3.3 threes per game. It might not seem that big on paper, but throughout the playoffs, Morris was able to knock down the big shots when they mattered.
He is a perfect role player to bring back to this roster and play alongside LeBron James. His performance went under the radar enough to keep him from pricing himself out of LA.