Lakers interesting in bringing back 2 key veterans in NBA Free Agency

The Lakers are trying to bring back some key vets from their title run.

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will likely be in for a somewhat busy once they wrap-up signing Anthony Davis and finalize the Dennis Schroder trade, as they will be looking for veterans that will be willing to take a pay cut in search of a championship. While they have started to consider dipping their toes into the Serge Ibaka pool, Rob Pelinka is trying to sign some holdovers from last year’s title-winning team.

The Los Angeles Times reports the Lakers are focused on trying to resign veteran big men Dwight Howard and Markieff Morris, who both saw some substantial playing time during the 2019-20 Finals run in the bubble.

Dwight Howard and Markieff Morris were perfect role players for the Lakers

While his brother Marcus also went to LA after the Clippers acquired him from the New York Knicks, it was Markieff who ended up with a ring after the Detroit Pistons waived him. Morris only averaged 5.3 points per game and was used mostly as a spot-up shooter, but his size on both ends of the floor helped create plenty of favorable matchups for the Lakers, and his ability to shoot and bang down low will serve the Lakers well.

A Future Hall of Famer who unfortunately spent the last few seasons putting up hollow stats on bad teams, Howard was willing to sacrifice his starting role and statistical prowess in order to get his first championship. While assuming the role of rim-runner, lockdown interior defender, and ace rebounder, Howard averaged 7.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game while shooting an absurd 73 percent from the field in just 19 minutes per game.

With Davis almost certainly coming back to the Lakers, LA needs to stock up on quality backups in order to run it back, and there aren’t many backups on the market with more experience than Howard and Morris.