Lakers Free Agent Still Has Surprising Value, Insider Suggests

Although he didn't log rotation minutes for the Los Angeles Lakers with any consistency upon being acquired as a salary-matching throw-in piece for L.A.'s blockbuster Luka Doncic trade with the Dallas Mavericks, free agent reserve power forward Markieff Morris could still be a net positive piece on a new team this season.

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At least, that's what Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report asserts, in breaking down some of the top remaining free agent prospects still left on the board during Media Day week.

"Not every player on an NBA contract is on the roster to play minutes. Some are experienced (read: older) veterans who are there to help mentor the team's younger prospects and stars," Pincus writes. "Fans may not understand the value they bring in holding the locker room together and providing private counsel, be it to stars or impressionable, developing players."

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Pincus includes three former deep-bench Lakers locker room leaders among this bunch, including Morris: center DeAndre Jordan, who most recently logged a few seasons in this deep-reserve role with the Denver Nuggets — winning it all in 2023 — and Tristan Thompson, who served in that capacity during the Lakers' 2023 playoff run.

Thompson most recently was a locker room leader for the Cleveland Cavaliers, with whom he played a far more critical role during the franchise's 2016 championship run.

Markieff Morris, Secret Locker Room MVP?

"There's a reason players like Markieff Morris have stuck around so long, past their primes as rotational contributors," Pincus writes. "Each earned the minimum $3.3 million with their respective clubs [last season."

Taj Gibson, who's been in the league since 2009, spent the 2024-25 in a mentorship role with the Charlotte Hornets. The 40-year-old power forward/center is definitely in his Udonis Haslem era now, as a steadying locker room presence, coach on the floor and practice player.

"Any team with an open roster spot would benefit," Pincus asserts in describing this group.

The 6-foot-9 Morris, 36, appeared in just eight regular season games for L.A., averaging 5.5 points on .333/.304/.833 shooting splits, 2.1 assists and 1.9 rebounds a night. He never left the bench during L.A.'s ill-fated first-round playoff series loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and would be absolutely buried on the Lakers bench this season thanks to its revamped frontcourt depth.

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