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Lakers forward Markieff Morris heard the chatter, the same grist on the NBA rumor mill that everyone else heard—before he ultimately chose to re-sign with the purple-and-gold, it was said, Morris was considering abandoning ship to become a Clipper.
There was some logic behind that potential move. Morris would have likely been given a bigger role with the Clippers, who are more in need of frontcourt depth than the Lakers. He also would have the opportunity to team up with his twin brother, Marcus Morris, who is the projected starter at power forward with the Clippers. The two were teammates in Phoenix for two-plus seasons.
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If the Clippers had the drive to do so, they could have offered more money than the Lakers, too. But Markieff Morris said that was never a real threat—he was always planning to come back to the Lakers—and that the Clippers likely just wanted to give Lakers fans a jolt of fear.
“The Clippers situation, that was just talk, man,” Morris said. “They’re trying to scare the Lakers fans.”
Markieff Morris Had Unusual Season With Lakers
Morris had a strange tenure during his first season with the Lakers. He was connected to the team via trade rumors in January and February but was never dealt and ultimately got a buyout from his old team, the Pistons. Two days after the buyout, he was signed by the Lakers for the rest of the season.
He played only eight games with L.A. before the NBA season was interrupted because of the coronavirus pandemic and returned to the team in the league’s bubble environment in Orlando in the summer. He played sparingly during the eight bubble games (six appearances, 13.6 minutes), but picked up a bigger role in the postseason: He played in all 21 games, averaging 5.9 points and 3.0 rebounds in 18.4 minutes. He shot 42.0% from the 3-point line in the playoffs.
Still, in nine seasons in the NBA, he had never played as little as he did with the Lakers last year. The most he could sign for with the Lakers, too, would be $2.3 million and had a chance to earn more elsewhere. That invited speculation that he might look for more floor time elsewhere.
Markieff Morris: Lakers Are Ready to, ‘Back-to-Back It’
But, Morris said recently, that was all talk. He wanted to help the Lakers defend the championship and could, perhaps, seek a bigger deal in free agency next summer, when more teams are slated to have free-agent money available.
“It was a crazy free agency and I just felt like this was the best place for me,” Morris said on Thursday. “I get to be a free agent next year, we’re gonna try and most likely back-to-back it and that’s what the whole thing is about man, trying to win this championship and I was back on board for that.”
That is not to say that Morris will be an automatic choice for a big role this year. Anthony Davis is back and will chew up 34-36 minutes at the power forward and center spots. New signee Montrezl Harrell will get significant frontcourt minutes, too, as will expected starting center Marc Gasol.
Morris could carve out a 12-15 minute per game role for himself. That might be less than he’d have gotten with the Clippers. But he always wanted a chance to defend the championship.
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