2. Marcus Morris is far superior than Markieff Morris
The Morris twins are both playing in LA, albeit on different teams. Marcus was traded to the Clippers last season from the New York Knicks while Markieff was bought out and signed by the Lakers. Both players re-signed with their respective LA team this offseason.
Now, I think that most NBA fans would probably say that Marcus is the better of the twins and his salary number certainly indicates that. Marcus signed a four-year, $64 million contract with the Clippers while Markieff signed a minimum deal with the Lakers.
The truth of the matter is that these players are far closer than their salaries indicate and the Lakers got 90% of Marcus for an eighth of the price (and without a long-term commitment). The Clippers did overpay.
Now, to be fair, this was money that the Clippers could not really use on anyone else so it made sense to extend Marcus, but that does not change the fact that they overpaid and that his contract is going to be really hard to move for another two and a half years.
Numbers-wise Marcus does have a decent advantage over Markieff with a -0.25 PIPM compared to Markieff’s -2.11. However, they are still both on the negative side and these numbers were before the NBA bubble. Markieff only played eight games with the Lakers before the bubble.
He showed his value in the playoffs, though. He was versatile for the Lakers in his role, playing the role of a three and D wing as well as a small-ball center. Most importantly, he was lights out from three. He shot 42% (29-69) from deep in the playoffs.
Only two players in Lakers history — Trevor Ariza and Michael Cooper — had better three-point percentages in a single playoff with as many attempts.
Marcus is the better player. But is he $13.7 million better this season and $61.7 million better over the next four years? Not a chance.