The Detroit Pistons have bought out Markieff Morris, meaning that a pretty versatile big man is on the market. Morris may not be available for long, as according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, the Los Angeles Lakers are the frontrunners to sign Morris when he becomes a free agent.
Well, at least the Lakers may end up with one of the Morris brothers.
Los Angeles made a push to acquire Markieff's twin brother, Marcus, at the trade deadline, but the Clippers ended up nabbing him instead, which some felt put a rather sizeable gap between the two LA clubs.
But if the Lakers can scoop up Markieff, it would certainly soften the blow of losing out on Marcus.
Markieff is probably the lesser of the two brothers. He isn't as good of a perimeter shooter as Marcus, he isn't as adept at creating his own shot, and he doesn't quite possess the defensive versatility of his sibling, but he is still a fine player who can certainly fit on a contender.
Morris can play either frontcourt position, and he could wind up playing a good amount of center given the fact that Kyle Kuzma is the backup power forward.
How many minutes Morris would get is questionable, as the Lakers also have JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard at the 5, but one would assume that Morris' minutes would be based on matchups and/or whether or not Los Angeles needs a scoring punch.
Not only that, but Morris would bring some toughness to a Lakers squad that sorely needs it.
One of the main criticisms that has been hurled against LA this season is that it simply does not have enough dogs, unlike the Clippers, who are chock full of them.
So, Morris can spread the floor, defend adequately in space, and he would make the Lakers a bit more rugged, all attributes that are very valuable to a title-contending team.
It should also be noted that Morris is having the best 3-point shooting season of his career, as he is making 39.7 percent of his triples this year, which is well above his lifetime average of 34.5 percent.
Is Morris due for a regression? Perhaps, and Morris' outside shooting did take a dive in the month of January (34.7 percent), but there is no doubting that he is a big who can step out and knock down perimeter shots on a relatively consistent basis.
The Lakers did not make any additions at the trade deadline, which raised a whole lot of eyebrows. Many felt they were behind the 8-ball in terms of their battle with the Clippers to begin with, and the Clips going out and landing Marcus widened the gap even more.
Do the Lakers have to make a move? No, as the tandem of LeBron James and Anthony Davis makes them scary enough on its own, but it would certainly behoove the purple and gold to add another weapon to their arsenal in what has become quite the arms race against the Clippers.
Morris would be a good way to go, and seeing the Morris twins do battle in the playoffs would be fun to watch.
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