Clippers vs. Lakers: What The Marcus Morris Trade Means For Los Angeles' 2020 NBA Finals Chances

Los Angeles’ two NBA teams didn’t meet on the court Thursday afternoon, but the Clippers found another way to defeat the Lakers. It was the Clippers that came out on top in the rivals’ pursuit of forward Marcus Morris, hoping to tip the balance of power in the Western Conference.

The Clippers undoubtedly improved their roster at the 2020 NBA trade deadline, sending the New York Knicks Moe Harkless, their first-round draft pick and a 2021 second-rounder (via the Detroit Pistons) in exchange for Morris. Los Angeles and the Washington Wizards also swapped Jerome Robinson and Isaiah Thomas in the three-team trade.

New York’s insistence upon Kyle Kuzma being included in a deal forced the Lakers to end trade talks with the Knicks.

Harkless started 38 games for the Clippers, averaging just 5.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in 22.8 minutes per game. Robinson barely contributed with 2.9 points and 1.4 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per game.

Morris is a significant upgrade over both players. The free-agent-to-be was the Knicks’ leading scorer with 19.6 points per contest. Aside from D’Angelo Russell, the 30-year-old might have been the best player to be moved on a hectic day across the league.

Does the trade give the Clippers a clear edge over the Lakers?

The betting odds suggest that the Lakers have just as good of a chance—if not a better one—to win a title than the Clippers. DraftKings Sportsbook and the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook both list the Lakers as slight favorites with better than 3/1 championship odds. The two teams that call Staples Center home are co-favorites in the West at FanDuel Sportsbook.

The Lakers still have the edge in the standings, sitting 2.5 games in front of the No.2 seed Clippers. Only 3.5 games separate the Clippers and the No.5 seed Utah Jazz, who currently don’t have home-court advantage in a first-round playoff series.

The fact that the rivals competed to acquire Morris says something about the impact he could have on the race toward the NBA Finals.

The Lakers can certainly use another defender to throw at Kawhi Leonard or Paul George in a potential postseason matchup, a role Morris could have filled. Another scorer would also be useful for the Lakers.

Anthony Davis and LeBron James score a combined 51.6 points per game. Kuzma is the third and final Laker averaging double digits, scoring 12.9 points on 11.0 shots per contest.

The Morris trade makes the NBA’s deepest team even deeper. Four Clippers are scoring at least 19.0 points per game. Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams are two of the league’s top three bench scorers.

Landry Shamet is a double-digit scorer and a 40% three-point shooter. Patrick Beverley can make threes and defend at a high level. Ivica Zubac is averaging 16.3 points, 14.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per 36 minutes.

Morris is shooting 43.9% from three-point range on 6.1 attempts per game. Of the 89 players that attempt at least 4.4 threes per game, only J.J. Redick is shooting a better percentage than Morris from behind the arc.

As a 36.9% career three-point shooter, Morris might be unlikely to keep up his current pace. He made 37.5% of the 5.2 threes he averaged a season ago. He’s improved his three-point percentage in three straight years.

Morris ranks 17th out of 87 small forwards in ESPN’s defensive real-plus minus. Harkless is 34th. Kawhi Leonard is second behind only LeBron James, who measures as the best individual defender at any position in the 2019-2020 season, according to ESPN’s metric.

It will be interesting to see how Morris fits with the Clippers. He’s going from being the best player on a bad team to a role player on a potentially great team.

With New York, Morris was the team’s go-to scorer in close games. According to nba.com, the veteran is 15th in the league in average field-goal attempts during clutch situations. He might be the Clippers’ fourth scoring option, at best, down the stretch of games.

Morris had the Knicks’ second-highest usage rate. Leonard, George, Williams and Harrell all have a higher usage rate than the newest Clipper.

Doc Rivers doesn’t have to play Morris at the end of games. The head coach has a ton of options for a crunch-time lineup that includes two of the NBA’s 10 best players.

The arms race between the favorites in the West isn’t over just yet. The Lakers are expected to add a player in the buyout market, likely Darren Collison, who has also been linked to the Clippers.

The Clippers are 2-0 against the Lakers this season, winning on Opening Night and Christmas Day.

The teams are set to face off two more times in the regular season before what seems like an inevitable meeting in the Western Conference Finals.