Darius Morris to Lakers
Congrats to D-Mo, playing for the hometown team is big for him.
I am more than happy to have a Michigan man playing for my Lakers.
Agreed. I expect a long career
Going back to his hometown. Don't like the Lakers but good luck Darius!
saying this is perfect and way better than if he went in 1st round
not judging those comments, just saying they're inevitable.
This is perfect for him. Way better than if he would've gone in the first round.
His paycheck probably, but the labor deal may change things re: guaranteed contracts.
You may be right....but that may be in late Fall 2012.
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.
Who picked up 3 guards in that trade?
Sweet! Congrats Darius.
Now, someone who follows pro basketball, is this a good thing for him?
The Lakers need a young point guard. Morris will have at least a few guys - Bryant, Gasol, Bynum -to pass to. This should be good for him.
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.
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.
You assume that Fischer is coming back? He was Phil Jackson's guy, with the new coaching staff and his lack of productivity the past two seasons I would not be surprised to see him not with the team next season.
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.
Fisher might come back, but they have to get rid of someone. There is no way Bryant, Gasol, Bynum, Odom and Artest are on the same team next year. Out of those guys I would say Bryant is the only safe one.
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.
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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.
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.
You're still an idiot for calling him an idiot.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
really get a chance to prove himself, and with his hometown team.
Get the fuck off his court.
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.
Good court vision, good height. Poor perimeter shooter, defense yet to be proven. That's pretty much him in an objective nutshell.
He sounds like your typical NBA player to me.
shooting and defense in the NBA > shooting and defense in college
Though to be fair, pro players are also taller and in possession of better court vision.
That people defend even the slightest criticism of Michigan athletes like they are defending their own children.
I didn't see the draft but isn't that a rather obvious comment. I haven't seen many 5 foot 5 inch basketball players. Bugsy Bogues being the clear exception.
He meant that if Morris was like 6 feet 2 inches, that he wouldn't ever be a good point guard.
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.
it's muggsy bogues
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.
I think his overall tone for Morris was negative. I may be biased because I hate Bilas, but his tone seemed so much more positive for basically every other player.
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.
If you are saying Bilas is an asshole, then I am in full agreement.
Gets to play in his home state and with Bryant.Wish he would of stayed but oh well.
side note: I hate Jay Bilas and his comments about DMo. Way to be a negative nancy
Good decision, Darius. Good luck in the NBA.
I'm so glad that he was drafted. That he gets to go home and play for a good team is icing on the cake.