4 players from the 2020 Lakers we wish were still on the team

4. Markieff Morris

It has kind of been overlooked but Markieff Morris has not played a game in the NBA since the incident with Nikola Jokic that resulted in Jokic hitting Morris from behind. That was an ugly situation overall but it is a shame that Morris has not played since then.

This might be a weird inclusion considering Morris did not even have that big of a role on the Lakers. He was on the team last season and averaged 19.7 minutes per game. In those 19.7 minutes, Morris averaged 6.7 points and 4.4 rebounds.

Morris was the perfect backup forward to play behind Anthony Davis who could not only play the four next to AD if he was at the five but could also operate as the small-ball center. He was a good defensive player and could really hit three-point shots when he needed to.

That is why Morris is on this list instead of Kyle Kuzma. It was probably for the best to trade Kuzma, just not for Russell Westbrook. While Kuzma made strides, Morris was cheaper and simply fit better schematically than Kuzma did.

Morris was absolutely lights out in the 2020 playoffs for the Lakers. Morris hit 29 of 69 threes for a 42% clip from beyond the arc. To put that into perspective, that is the third-highest three-point percentage in a single playoff run in franchise history (with at least 69 attempts).

Only Trevor Ariza in 2009 (47.6%) and Michael Cooper (48.6%) had better. Heck, Stephen Curry has only shot 42% or better from three in the playoffs once in his career (granted, he takes a lot more shots).

Just imagine the Lakers having Morris instead of Trevor Ariza in that role. It would be a big difference.