Slumping Lakers Players Who Need to Step Up
It's (mostly) good to be the champs.
The Los Angeles Lakers are again cruising at high altitude, thanks in no small part to the fact that they roster the historically dominant pairing of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. While following the lead of their superstars, the supporting cast has delivered in almost every aspect.
But no roster is ever operating at maximum capacity, and the Lakers are no different. Squint, and you can spot a few players not doing as much as they could be.
Markieff Morris
1 of 3
It would be a stretch to label Markieff Morris as a luxury for the Lakers given he's suited up in all of their games this season, just like he did throughout the 2019-20 playoffs.
Saying that, L.A. has other frontcourt mouths to feed before getting around to Morris. Anthony Davis is first up. Then it trickles down between Marc Gasol, Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell before finally reaching Morris.
That's a good thing, apparently, because Morris forgot to bring his offense into the new season. He's shooting career-worst rates from the field (35.5) and the line (66.7), and his three-point conversion rate is nearly three points below his norm (31.8, 34.4 for his career).
As an undersized big who's never been the strongest presence on the glass, Morris gets a lot less interesting if he's not at least serviceable at the offensive end. So far, he's nowhere near that. His on-court offensive rating of 96.1 is a full 5.0 points per 100 possessions worse than anyone else in the rotation.
Talen Horton-Tucker
2 of 3
Talen Horton-Tucker was the story of the Lakers' preseason, dazzling with near-nightly displays of smooth shot-creation and ignitable scoring.
But that means nothing in the actual campaign, other than the arrival of actual expectations. And the second-year scoring guard isn't living up to them.
It's early, obviously—both in the season and in the 20-year-old's career—but if he's going to be in the rotation of a championship contender, then the it's-early caveat gets tossed out the window. The time to deliver is now, and he's not doing that.
Pairing a 40.5 field-goal percentage with a 33.3 three-point conversion rate isn't going to cut it for someone who offers the most value on the offensive end.
Marc Gasol
3 of 3
This surely reads as harsh and nitpicky, but "slumping" becomes a relative term on a team mostly steamrolling the competition.
So which nits are we picking with Marc Gasol? How about his refusal to even glance at the basket on most possessions?
Being a pass-first player is fine, especially for a crafty playmaker surrounded by scoring threats. But a pass-only option won't work, particularly if this lack of aggression is something a playoff defense can exploit down the line.
How bad is it? Well, he's played 155 minutes and attempted just 21 shots. If he can't be at least a complementary scoring threat, then his impact will be muted regardless of how many other areas of the game he can influence.
All stats current through games played Jan. 5 and courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball Reference unless otherwise noted.
