With their playoff push building, the Los Angeles Lakers are picking up a forward who could help bring more scoring off the bench.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, former Detroit Pistons forward Markieff Morris cleared waivers Sunday and will sign with the Lakers. Morris, who reached a buyout with the Pistons on Friday, will sign under the Lakers’ $1.75 million disabled player exception.
The Lakers had to waive DeMarcus Cousins to bring on Morris. Los Angeles received a disabled player exception before the season for Cousins, who is out with a torn left ACL.
A nine-year forward out of Kansas, Morris has continued to show his quality shooting ability this season. In 44 games with the Pistons, Morris shot 39.7% from the 3-point line and scored 11.0 points per game.
With Morris joining the Lakers, he’ll be the fourth player averaging double figures in scoring on the roster.
Morris isn’t too elite of a bench scorer, but the Lakers simply need him to help Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the Lakers’ two best bench scorers. The highest scoring average of Morris’ career is 15.3 points per game, which he posted with the Phoenix Suns during the 2014-15 season.
The Lakers don’t have a terrible bench — they rank 11th in bench scoring. But with the playoffs not too far away, having more bench production could be the difference for their potential future success.
