The Los Angeles Lakers were unable to trade for Marcus Morris prior to the NBA Trade Deadline. Instead, they will employ his brother, Markieff.
Adrian Wojnarowski reported Markieff is expected to sign with the Lakers on a $1.75 million disabled player exception once he clears waivers this evening:
Once F Markieff Morris clears waivers at 5 PM ET, he will sign with the Lakers into the $1.75M Disabled Player Exception, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 23, 2020
The Lakers are expected to waive DeMarcus Cousins–who has yet to play this season after suffering a torn ACL in August–in order to make room for Morris once he clears waivers. In fact, Cousins' injury is the reason the Lakers have spending money under the disabled player exception provision.
Morris averaged 11.0 points and 3.9 rebounds in 44 games with the Detroit Pistons. He is also shooting close to 40 percent from beyond the arc on 4.3 attempts per game.
The 30-year-old's shooting touch should be particularly valuable to a Laker team that has yet to establish much of a perimeter presence.
Although guys like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Danny Green have been excellent floor spacers, Kyle Kuzma, Anthony Davis and LeBron James have all been inconsistent from beyond the arc.
The Lakers also lose additional shooting when they employ a two-big set with Davis and either Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee.
Morris should bridge the gap between the starters and second unit, especially because he also has some positional versatility. He figures to see some minutes at both forward spots.
The Lakers previously showed interest in acquiring a point guard for the final stretch, but they increasingly showed interest in wing players at the deadline. They will hope Morris can be the final piece to the championship puzzle.
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