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The Lakers have made an identity for themselves this season by being bigger than any other team in the league. They have two true old-school centers that play most minutes in all five, and beyond that, above-average size and duration in all other positions.
But the Lakers have always had a trump card in the back pocket of Anthony Davis at center, and the theory has been that they would have to rely on that setup more and more often during the postseason, particularly against teams like the Rockets and the Los Angeles. Clippers. that traditional centers eat.
We started to see this trend in the first round, even against a Portland team that often played two centers at the same time. Davis played 75.0% of his minutes alongside JaVale McGee or Dwight Howard during the regular season, but only 59.5% during the five-game first-round series, according to NBA statistics.
When the Lakers play “small,” they still like to keep their physique and stamina intact, even if they are sacrificing their size. They don’t want to just throw a stretch four to Davis’ side and let that player expose himself either on defense or with his handle. That’s where someone like Markieff Morris comes in.
Morris played most of his minutes in small lineups during the first round (47 of 88) and the Lakers were 11 plus in that time. Considering it was minus 1 overall, this seems like the best way to use Morris in the future, so let’s dive into what Morris has to do to be successful in these situations.
First, Davis and LeBron James are most effective when they have a clear lane to operate on. Davis can roll to the basket unimpeded, and James can do a host of things, ranging from posting to hopping on a drive. . That means Morris must be able to space the floor. For his career, the 31-year-old striker shoots 34.5% from distance. That dropped to 33.3% during Morris’ regular season and seeded games with the Lakers, and dropped further to 25% against Portland.
That sample only represents 19 games, but the Blazers’ defenders were already beginning to leave Morris alone as part of their defensive strategy to force the Lakers to beat them from the outside.
Ultimately, much of Morris’s value will depend on whether he can hit 3s, because those are the shots that will always be available to him. Despite shooting 40 percent in Detroit before arriving in Los Angeles, the Lakers couldn’t have expected him to stay at that efficiency considering his career numbers. Still, it has to be better there.
Morris demonstrated the ability to do other things on offense when the 3-ball was not falling. You can place smaller defenders on the switches, and you can also attack the close of the catch. That’s the beauty of the lane being open – there’s room for drive-and-kicks too, or just hitting the basket to score if the defense isn’t ready.
The other key to being successful in small lineups is being a switchable defender and bouncing well. Morris has been an excellent rebounder so far with the Lakers, particularly on the offensive end, and that’s a blessing for a team that has some difficulty scoring in the midfield.
Defensively is where Morris has been most helpful to the Lakers. Due to his inconsistent shooting, his offensive impact has not been very positive, but his defense has been in line with what the Lakers need. At 6’10, Morris has a legitimate center size, which means he can protect the rim. He has a good block rate (he ranks in the 76th percentile, according to Cleaning the Glass) since coming to Los Angeles, and a defensive rate of 103.4 in the regular season and 99.0 in the postseason.
For the series, Morris’s offense and defense essentially balanced out, as he had a net rating of plus-1.0 while the Lakers had a plus-10.4 overall. It was useful and Frank Vogel didn’t need to think outside the box with his rotations because Portland didn’t have enough talent to exploit the Lakers, even when LA wasn’t playing at its best.
Yet it’s hard to watch Morris struggle to score and not think of another small-ball center who also sits on the Lakers bench: Jared Dudley. Dudley is a bit shorter than Morris, but provides a similar skill set.
Do you need a floor spacer? Dudley is a 39.3% career shooter from 3-point range and hit 42.9% of his attempts this year, even when used sparingly. Do you need physical presence? Let’s say Dudley has never come across a fight that he didn’t want to be in. Rim protection? Dudley won’t block any shots, but he can certainly step in to take over.
Just a year ago, Dudley was a rotation player on a playoff team doing all of these things.
Maybe Vogel is aware of Dudley’s physical condition that only the Lakers know about, or he really values that extra height that Morris brings to the table. Perhaps Vogel is happy enough with what Morris has been providing and not willing to disrupt team chemistry. And given Vogel’s tendency to run with good defenders, it’s easy to see why Morris has earned his minutes.
But Morris isn’t a perfect player, and he seems to have a ready replacement waiting behind the scenes. As the Lakers increasingly turn to smaller rosters, Morris is a good player to have alongside Davis. However, it’s not the only option the Lakers have on their Lakers bench, and that’s something to consider if the team finds itself in need of something different.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast at iTunes, Spotify, Stapler or Google Podcasts. You can follow this author on Twitter at @sabreenajm.
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