Mavericks had ‘Deal in Place’ to Acquire Lakers Veteran: Report

The Los Angeles Lakers stood pat at the trade deadline despite a deluge of rumors, but if the team had decided to make a deal, it could have been a boon for another Western Conference squad.

Shortly after the trade deadline passed, Brad Towsend of the Dallas Morning News reported that had “Marcus Morris gone to Lakers, not Clippers, at 11th hour before trade deadline, Mavericks believed they had a deal in place for Danny Green, one of their summer free agency targets.”

Towsend said that the if Lakers had made a deal for Morris, the Mavericks would have swooped in to take on Green’s contract, something the Knicks were not interested in taking on. The team would have sent Courtney Lee’s expiring contract and Golden State’s second round pick in exchange for Green.

Ultimately, Morris ended up in Los Angeles, but with the Clippers. Morris is averaging a career-high 19.6 points per game and shooting 43.9% from 3-point land.

Knicks Wanted Massive Haul From Lakers for Marcus Morris

The Knicks asking price was high for Morris when it was believed that the asking price would be Lakers 24-year-old forward Kyle Kuzma. But it was reported by Ramona Shelburne of ESPN following the deadline passing that New York wanted Danny Green to make the numbers work and future second round picks. In the end, it was simply too much for the Lakers to give up for a 30-year-old Morris.

So while the Lakers will work with what they have, the Clippers — who are currently 36-15 and second place in the Western Conference — will try to integrate Morris. Basketball aficionado and The Ringer founder Bill Simmons doesn’t think it will be that easy.

“I hate this trade for them,” Simmons said on The Ringer’s Trade Deadline Live Show. “I watched Marcus Morris on the Celtics for three years. I think on the right team he has a purpose and has real value. He is a ball stopper. The ball goes to him, and it stops. And if you watch the Clippers really carefully, George is a ball stopper in a lot of ways, Kawhi is a ball stopper, although he’s Kawhi. The Lou Williams ‘give the ball to him and Harrell sets a pick,’ that’s a ball stopper. It’s a team where nobody’s moving ever, and now you’re adding a guy who’s basically a statue. And if you throw him the ball, he’s gonna take seven seconds to decide what to do. So now I have Kawhi, Paul George, Harrell, Lou Williams, all standing in different spots while Marcus Morris is deciding what to do.”

Kyle Kuzma Ready to ‘Lock in’ With Lakers

Kuzma’s name was thrown around a lot in trade rumors, but with the deadline passing he can finally relax and focus instead on just playing basketball and improving.

“It’s time to lock in rotations a little more, focus on our weaknesses, and build more chemistry,” Kuzma told Mike Trudell of Spectrum Sports.

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