Markieff Morris: Lakers only need 'minor tweaks' to be contenders
There seem to be two schools of thought when it comes to what the Los Angeles Lakers need to do this summer in order to become legitimate championship contenders next season.
Some say the team needs to make big, sweeping changes, which could include trading budding star guard Austin Reaves, whom it has been very reluctant to include in trade discussions over the last year or two.
But there are others who argue that the Lakers are simply a couple of moderate but non-major pieces away — a starting-level center and a two-way wing, to be exact.
Lakers big man Markieff Morris, who played on their last championship team in 2020 and returned in February's Luka Doncic trade, is in the latter category. While on ESPN's "Get Up," he said that only "minor tweaks" are needed to make the team elite again.
'I think ultimately, Luka does re-sign. Now, is it four years? Is it two years? But, ultimately, I think he will be there. What I think they need to make happen to the roster, I think it's minor tweaks. You're in a position where LeBron [James] has maybe two years left and he's trying to win right now, so I don't think bringing in a ton of new pieces and revamping the team makes a lot of sense. I think where they were this year, we were really close to winning, so it's just minor tweaks. You may get a big in there, but I don't think you move core pieces to get a big and mess the team up. When it reality, you only really need one big for the big fella in Joker (Nikola Jokić), to be able to get to the Finals. So I don't think you want to put too much into that. I think you come back with the same core pieces and you just add maybe a big and you keep growing your team through working them out and trying to figure out what's the next steps.'
There is certainly an argument to be made for maintaining some real continuity with this roster. Reaves and James have played together for four seasons, and forward Rui Hachimura has been with them for two and a half seasons. Doncic and forward Dorian Finney-Smith spent four and a half seasons together as members of the Dallas Mavericks.
But in sports, as in life, sometimes established bonds and habits, no matter how healthy and beneficial they may be, have to be given up in order to get to the next level. With James now in his 40s and no assurances on whether Doncic will be with them for the long term, the Lakers will need to be bold this offseason and strike while the iron is hot.
That could mean giving their roster a facelift or performing major reconstructive surgery.
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