Darius Morris to Lakers

Submitted by M-Wolverine on
#41 2nd round.

Discuss wisdom.

Tacopants

June 23rd, 2011 at 11:41 PM ^

To be fair, if he was going to go in the 2nd round, the Lakers/Heat/Spurs were the best places for him to end up.  Certainly not better than a 1st rounder, but if he had to go in the 2nd, the Lakers aren't the worst place he could have ended up.

That would have been Minnesota.

Needs

June 24th, 2011 at 6:04 AM ^

They're also going to go away from the Triangle with Mike Brown as their new coach. Most people are assuming they'll go to a more standard NBA, pick-roll heavy offense, which plays to Morris's strengths.

freernnur5

June 23rd, 2011 at 11:06 PM ^

This should be a good thing for him. He gets to learn from Derek Fisher's leadership. He also is not required to be an immediate scoring threat due to the fact that the Lakers have Bryant/Gasol/Odom/Bynum, etc. He gets to play for a contender which is always nice to see, and its his home town team.

Also I always though DMo was a good defender and with Mike Brown having a defensive specialty as a coach he should be able to gain solid playing time his rookie season, especially with Fisher looking older by the day.

At least he is going to a team with stable ownership that is committed to trying to win.

I root for the Lakers and love this pick. I can't wait to see him in the Purple and Yellow. I hope he has a great long career.

freernnur5

June 23rd, 2011 at 11:49 PM ^

I do assume he is coming back, they have him under contract for next year for 3.4 million with another year after that as a player option for another 3.4. I think he plays one, MAYBE both of the years and then retires, but even one year with being under a veteran's wing would help.

freernnur5

June 24th, 2011 at 10:51 AM ^

I would like to see them get rid of Bynum and Artest.

Bynum is fantastic when he can play, but how much can you trust a young center that has barely played half of the games in the past couple years and doesn't seem to have any stability in his knees going forward.

Artest is a really good defender, but he is such an offensive liability that Lakers' fans shriek whenever he shoots the ball. How much longer can they afford to play 4 on 5 while on the offensive side of the ball (Phil Jackson would just stick Artest in the corner to have him out of the way at times).

If they could find some way to package the two of them plus picks for Dwight Howard that would be great.

They also need some youth and if they don't make moves soon they may be left with a situation a couple years down the road when everyone is too old and no one brings any trade value.

JamieH

June 23rd, 2011 at 11:08 PM ^

The 2nd round of the NBA draft is not someplace anyone really wants to be  The contracts are not guaranteed and most players drafted there are lucky to ever make a big impact.

Looking at the Lakers specifically, they tend to do pretty well in the second round, as about half of their picks in recent years stuck in the NBA.

Still, no sophomore leaving college wants to end up in the 2nd round.  The rule of thumb is that if you aren't going to go in the 1st round, you shouldn't leave school.  Darius got some really REALLY bad advice, just like Manny Harris did. 

mejunglechop

June 24th, 2011 at 12:34 AM ^

We can't live out the alternate possibility so who knows if it was bad advice? Manny Harris probably would've been drafted if he'd left after his sophomore year, but would he have stuck with his team like he did with the Cavs? Coming back isn't always the right decision even if you didn't get drafted where you hoped.

PRod

June 24th, 2011 at 8:46 AM ^

Getting drafted in the 2nd round means nothing, especially in a draft where no one knows half of the players and there is no talent in it.  Great decision by Morris!

Is Morris going to issue an apology to us Michigan fans that called him an idiot for leaving early?  Since what we said proved to be right and should have gone back to school for another year to improve his game.  The sad part about this story is that choices like this are what is killing both the college and pro game. 

 

 

Raoul

June 24th, 2011 at 9:50 AM ^

John Beilein was on WTKA this morning and said that "representatives of NBA teams" had told him that Morris could go anywhere from around 15-17 to 50. So Morris knew going into this that there was a chance he wasn't going to be taken in the first round, but he decided to take that chance anyway. It's his life, he made his decision, and how he'll have to live with it.

Given how hard he works, I for one wouldn't bet against Morris making fools out of all the naysayers on this board.

Beilein also said: "Darius is in a good spot with the Lakers, and I know he's very pleased."

coastal blue

June 24th, 2011 at 10:47 AM ^

But lets be honest here: Morris did not go pro to be picked 41st and land in a "good" situation with the Lakers. 

He went because he thought he could be a first round pick and sign a nice contract.

With such a wild swing of expecations (15th to 50th??), it would seem that coming back and having a big year could get him something a lot more solid.

So now he's a second round pick without a garaunteed contract in a  year where the NBA might be locked out.

Who knows, maybe the decisions in the lockout will positively affect him, but as of right now, this is as headshaking of a decision as it was when he declared.

Michigan was poised for a big year and he was going to be the leader. He could have played himself into the first round. Not to mention he gave up a year of being "the Man" to sit the bench in the NBA or be an obscure player in the D-League. 

I wish him all the best and hopefully he pulls a Ginobli and becomes an All-Star, but given his reasons for going pro, he made the wrong decision. 

redhousewolverine

June 24th, 2011 at 1:24 PM ^

He might not have been able to play his way into the first round. Several lottery picks this year decided to wait to enter the NBA, which means next years draft is going to have more talent than most years. Unless Morris were to make a significant leap in ability, he probably would have been drafted in the second round next year. Basketball isn't like football where all players need to go to college to get bigger and develop their game. They can do that in the NBA and get paid to do it. It's up to Darius to determine if this was the right decision. If his dream is to play in the NBA go after that dream while he still can.

SanDiegoWolverine

June 23rd, 2011 at 11:14 PM ^

and I think this is a great fit for him.  The Lakers will be looking for a new point guard in the next year and I don't think Steve Blake is their point guard of the future.

So the fit is pretty damn great from a roster standpoint but the problem is that 2nd round picks are not guaranteed and this is a terrible year to be drafted in the 2nd round with the lockout and all.

He would have been better staying another year and improving but at least with LA there is almost no chance he will be cut.

ken725

June 24th, 2011 at 4:32 AM ^

Since you are a NBA nut I'm guessing you know that the main reason why the Lakers got Blake is because he would routinely destroy them when he was on the Blazers.  When Blake was put into the triangle offense under Phil Jackson it basically ruined him and any production you should have seen from him.  I still think Blake can be a decent point guard, but putting him the triangle destroyed him.  

rman247

June 23rd, 2011 at 11:01 PM ^

Jay Bilas is such an asswhole.  He just rips on this kid saying if he wasn't tall he basically wouldn't be able to play basketball. Damn that guy is a prick.

somewittyname

June 23rd, 2011 at 11:15 PM ^

and that is a positive attribute. It was one of his main positive attributes listed in his scouting reports. Bilas reiterated it. Is it a ground breaking revelation? No. Are all people watching the draft as familiar with Morris as we are? No.

BRCE

June 23rd, 2011 at 11:16 PM ^

a million times more knowledgeable than anyone at the table tonight.

Yes, he was a prick about his buddy Tommy A. But outside of that, he knows his stuff. His evaluation of D-Mo was spot on.

STW P. Brabbs

June 24th, 2011 at 7:32 AM ^

Sometimes, I think guys like Bilas who love the college game tend to take kids to task when they leave early and don't get drafted very early - in his eyes, it might be frustrating that guys like Morris could stick around and be stars in college for another year rather than struggling in relative anonymity to keep a roster spot in the NBA.