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Lakers are reportedly ‘frontrunners’ to sign Markieff Morris

It sounds like the Lakers might be making an addition to their roster soon, although they’d have to cut someone if they do want to sign Markieff Morris.

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Boston Celtics v Los Angeles Lakers
Markieff Morris watching a Lakers game last year.
Photo by Chris Elise/NBAE via Getty Images

The Los Angeles Lakers have been connected to plenty of names in the buyout market, but it seems like they may have just found their guy. Markieff Morris agreed to a buyout with the Detroit Pistons earlier on Friday, and Shams Charania of The Athletic is reporting that the Lakers are “frontrunners” to sign the veteran forward:

Later on, we got some more details on the pursuit from Brad Turner of the L.A. Times and... Marcus Morris, Markieff’s brother:

In case you, like me, sometimes get confused, we should clarify that Markieff is generally considered the worse of the two Morris twins. His brother Marcus is a bit more versatile, and was traded to the LA Clippers a few weeks ago. Should the Lakers sign Markieff, the brother vs. brother showdown might add a whole new dynamic to this cross-hall rivalry.

But despite not quite being the player his brother is, can Markieff still help the Lakers? He would seem to mostly add to their glut of bigs and not exactly give them the wing defender they need, but maybe he will have a bit more in the tank in that area while playing for a winning team. He is averaging 11 points per game while shooting 39.7% from 3-point range this season, and some of his other numbers at least suggest that he can aid the purple and gold in a few ways:

Two other things should be noted here: For one, if the Lakers want to add Markieff (or anyone else) they will have to cut one of their current players, with the seemingly the most logical candidate being guard Troy Daniels. Also, despite what the photo at the top of this post suggests, Markieff Morris is no longer represented by Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, switching to Sam Permut of Roc Nation sports last summer after Paul stepped down as his brother Marcus’ agent.

This story will update with more information.

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