A widely anticipated move given the uncertainty rising from Ramon Sessions' opt-out and bid for free agency, the Morris signing gives the Lakers a back-up plan in their pursuit of a starting point guard for next season.
But can Morris carve himself an impact role in the Lakers' rotation next season?
I, for one, was ecstatic when the Lakers drafted him in the second round last year. A 6'4'' playmaker with size, length and court vision who can get to the lane and finish at the rim.
Unfortunately, Morris found himself the odd man out in Mike Brown's rotations—often wearing a suit instead of a purple and gold jersey across his chest coming off the bench.
Given his scant playing time, it's difficult to judge Morris on his first year in the league. Yes, he made errant turnovers typical of most rookie point guards and did not light the stage on fire when he actually did get a chance to see the court.
But in digging deeper into his rookie year numbers, we can get a better picture of Morris' rookie campaign by looking at games where he did receive meaningful playing time.
Taking his 2011-12 game log and omitting any games where he played less than ten minutes, we are given a sample size of eight games that stack up as follows:
Game Minutes Points Assists #1 13:05 4 2 #2 18:08 3 4 #3 23:42 7 4 #4 17:33 1 0 #5 18:06 0 1 #6 15:26 5 0 #7 17:59 5 0 #8 21:25 9 5 Total 145:04 34 16 On average, in games where Morris played more than ten minutes, he averaged 4.25 points and 2 assists in approximately 18 minutes of play.
These averages may be skewed by the goose eggs of games 4 and 5 above, but it is a better picture of his rookie production nonetheless.
Stepping back from the numb...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
