After being diagnosed with transient cervical neurapraxia (a neck injury) on December 26th, former Washington Wizards forward Markieff Morris has been cleared to resume all basketball-related activities after receiving a second opinion from Dr. Robert Watkins of Los Angeles.
Rich Paul, agent of Markieff Morris, told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports that the Rockets and Lakers have already shown interest in signing the forward, who is in his eighth year in the league out of the University of Kansas.
Rockets and Lakers among playoff-contending teams interested in services of Markieff Morris who was cleared to return to action. https://t.co/t9ho8UhM2E
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 11, 2019
Morris would be an excellent small ball five to pair alongside LeBron James and would potentially anchor any bench lineups. After the Lakers traded starting center Ivica Zubac and role player Michael Beasley to the Los Angeles Clippers for Mike Muscala, the team has had a need at the center position and subsequently had an open roster spot.
Incredibly, Morris is having a near career average year. He is averaging 11.5 points per game, just short of the 11.8 he’s averaged for his career and is hauling in 5.1 rebounds per game, just short of the 5.6 he’s averaged since his rookie year in 2011. He makes about a third of the threes that he takes and shoots an average of 4.2 per game for this season.
