Darius Morris to Lakers
Ugh. Change that horrible thing.
No he won't. I realize it's "cool" to hate lebron but the lakers are heading in the opposite direction of the heat. Lebron will still get his ring before Jordan age wise. Jordan was 28, what a failure.
I realize these kids always have guys whispering in their ears and saying they'll be first-rounders. But jeez. With a good degree of accuracy, the NBA tells players whether they're likely to be first-rounders. Some kids are on the cusp, sure. But Morris should have known he'd do just as well, and quite possibly better, by staying a year and honing his skills. It's really not that complicated.
I wish him well. However, he really should have stayed. I know this was a weak draft, but he was a reliable jump shot away from being a near certain first rounder. I'm not sure he'll have time to develop that before falling into the abyss of the D-league. On the other hand, LA is one of the few franchises that I know of (San Antonio being the other) that are very involved in their D-league teams, so that works in his favor.
Going back home to the Lakers must be a dream come true. Congrats D Mo, remember you're always apart of the Michigan family.
That's a harsh typo.
A Freudian slip?
Son of a bitch. Now I have a reason not to hate the Lakers! Congrats Darius!
Good for Darius. I think with the exposure that the Lakers get, this will help our recruiting as well.
Good for Darius. I think with the exposure that the Lakers get, this will help our recruiting as well.
From a Free Press article:
“I heard my name finally called and it was a relief, but at the same time it definitely put a chip on my shoulder getting picked 41,” Morris said. “That's the story of my life -- never been a favorite but always been one of the best, so I'm excited about the future.”
. . .
“To play for the L.A. powerhouse, I witnessed them do some great things, and never in a million years did I think I was going to be playing for them,” Morris said. “So it's definitely a dream come true.”
. . .
“I put a lot of faith in God because the journey might lead you to a lot of different places that you don't even expect, like the Lakers,” Morris said, sporting a new Lakers hat. “To return all the way back home where it all started for my professional career is crazy. It's mind-blowing.”
"dream come true," "mind-blowing"--sounds like someone content with his decision and looking forward to the future. Isn't that all that matters?
I hate the Lakers, but good for him ... he gets to go home
...home! Work on that jump shot homie!
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<br>P.S. This is great. First Jonas now Darius! Awesome!
At first thought, I didn't think the Lakers would be a great landing spot for Darius. After letting it set in, I think he can really prove himself in LA, because, let's face it, as a combo guard in the NBA, it's all about him taking a defender one-on-one, which is his strength. I wish him nothing but the best (obviously), but I also think he's going to have a very nice, if not spectacular, career.
Great place for him to go.
I wish D Mo the best but it’s hard to say that he got bad advice because he NEVER was a sure fire 1st rounder. 2nd round draft picks do not have a guaranteed contract. You do not leave college early to get drafted in the 2nd round, sorry guys; but I gotta believe he just wasn’t being smart.
Take a look at the Pistons draft choices the last 20 years and see how many 2nd rounder’s actually made it
I wish him the best, but still question the decision. As shown by where he was selected, he is an incomplete player and will get no guarantees. Time will tell if his decision was correct.
But as a fan, it's disappointing to me that he would give up the opportunity to achieve the legendary status that would come with winning a Big Ten title. The second round was always going to be there for him whether he stayed or went, but in choosing to leave, it feels to me like he passed on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Again, that's just the fan in me talking.
The one team I didnt want him to go to. But Good Luck to him and he is back close to his family.
Remember how bad Rondo looked in this year's playoffs trying to play with one arm after DWade bent his elbow? That'll be Morris in the NBA, like, all the time. Good for him, but I think he could have used more time playing down here with the kids.
Seems like he'll get some developmental time, and hopefully he'll improve enough to stick and carve out a career for himself. I'm not an NBA fan at all, but this will increase my level of attention to the league (if only a tiny bit).
I still hate the Lakers just the same though.
in the second round, would he still have jumped? Probably not, but being the first pick of the Lakers might have been OK might have been enough.
Bad, bad decision to leave early. Maybe he can hook up with Ernest Shazor, Donovan Warren, and Manny Harris and start the "Above average Michigan players who left early for crappy draft prospects" club.
Hey, I think Shantee Orr is the president of that club. On a rotating basis with Shazor, though.
A couple items working in favor of Morris here - the Lakers definitely need some young legs behind DFish. DFish in the triangle is basically the initiator of the offense but with a new offense more than likely going to be used this year, they'll probably be looking for some more penetration out of that position. Blake isn't much of a penetrator either. Morris has an experienced, savy professional to groom him in DFish too.
He didn't go in the first round but I think this is a very solid place for him to land.
Wish him the best. Probably was not goung to be a first rounder next year either. The Lakers are a good situation for him
Good Luck Darius! I guess we will never know what could have been. At least he is getting a shot at his dream and will be with a winning team. No offense to Darius but maybe Michigan will have a better year with Darius gone by getting more players involved. Just trying to look for a positive I guess.
... then it's still Bugsy Bogues.
In hindsight it was a bad move to declare. As many have said above though, the best team he could have gone to (assuming he didn't go in the first round) is the lakers.
Eh. I mean, I'm glad he's with a hometown team. But the lakers are on a bit of a downward trend and have to play slow with Bynum and Gasol. I guess they could trade one. i think Darius needed to be in a team that can break because he's not going to be great in the half court, at least initially. The Lakers' gameplan is throw it into the big boys or Kobe and have them kick it out for spot-up shooters........
Frankly I don't know that he's better than Steve Blake. Blake is a better shooter and a good floor general. Fisher has at least a year or two left as a a leader type.
Darius has a fight to make the team and another one for any significant minutes. Never mind that he's getting coached by Mike Brown, who I have only seen succeed in an unfathomably uncompetitive eastern conference with Lebron. He is certainly not an up-tempo guy.
Good luck Darius.
If all he wanted was to be drafted in the 2nd round, well he could have had that next year or the year after. He took a huge leap this year and wasn't going to get worse as a player. Yeah, there is always a risk of major injury, but that risk is far lower than the risk of trying to succeed as a 2nd round pick.
The point is, the ONLY reason to leave was for the guaranteed money of the1st round. Leaving for a 2nd round pick? Almost never a useful or good decision. You can develop much more playing 35 minutes a game for your college team than you can in mopup duty in the pros.
Hopefully Morris can make it with the Lakers since they seem to think a lot of him. If they were willing to spend a 1st rounder on him, then maybe they will give him a good shot to stick. But I don't care who he went to in the 2nd round--if you are 2nd round material and clearly getting better every year, you should stay and try to make yourself a 1st rounder.