Los Angeles Lakers: The 4 biggest bargains on the Lakers roster
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers have some stellar bargains on this year’s roster.
The Los Angeles Lakers are paying an arm and a leg for their two superstars in LeBron James and Anthony Davis. However, at the same time, Rob Pelinka has found some stellar bargains both in the offseason as well with the team’s own player development.
You cannot win a title without these value signings as every championship-winning team needs depth. It is rarely the splashy, big-money role players that win a championship. Instead, championships are typically won with star power and fantastic, value, depth alongside it.
There are four fantastic bargain players on the Los Angeles Lakers that just instantly jump off the page. Let’s look at Pelinka’s best deals.
4. Markieff Morris — $2.3 million
The Los Angeles Lakers signed Markieff Morris off the buyout market last season and he was fantastic for the team in the NBA Playoffs. He is not a star in any right but he thrived in his role off the bench and hit some huge shots for the Lakers in key moments in the playoffs.
Heck, Morris even started two games as the small-ball center against the Houston Rockets and played a big role in the Lakers’ solving that small-ball puzzle. The fact that the Lakers got to re-sign Morris for only $2.3 million seems outright illegal.
It is made even better by the fact that Markieff’s twin brother, Marcus, signed a four-year, $64 million contract with the Los Angeles Clippers. Marcus is a solid player and I am glad when anyone gets paid but is Marcus really worth $61.7 million (and $13.7 million this season) more than his brother?
Marcus is the better overall player and I get that the Clippers essentially had cap space that they could not spend on anyone else (as they used his Bird Rights) but four years? They won’t be able to trade that contract for another two years, meanwhile, the Lakers are getting 80% (at worst) of the same player on a league-minimum deal.
It is like the Lakers spent $10,000 on the base-model Corolla while their neighbors spent $35,000 on the “sport” version that comes with paddle shifters and heated seats. Is that really worth that much more? What a bargain.