Now is the time of the summer when teams are grabbing guys on minimum deals -- even make good deals, meaning they can be cut at training camp -- to round out their roster. Guys 11 to 15 on the depth chart.
And Adam Morrison’s phone is not ringing.
In a fascinating look at Morrison -- from the overexposed college player to the No. 3 pick not ready for the burden, to his time getting two rings while never setting foot on the court during a finals game with the Lakers -- the shooter talks about his future in the league with Andy Kamenetzky of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
Morrison will not be back with the Lakers. Any offensive potential coaches thought he had was masked by defensive issues. He was never going to get much run.
Last season most of his attempts came in a spot-up situation, but he shot just 29.7 percent on those, and 15 percent from three (according to Synergy Sports) It’s hard to read much into any of his statistics because he got such little run -- he got in to only 33 Lakers games and played an average of 7 minutes in those games -- but he didn’t grab the opportunities he had.
If you look across the country you see JJ Redick -- the guy Morrison was tied to so often in college -- who has rounded out his game, who has become more than a shooter. There was demand for Redick this summer by contending teams.
Morrison wants to be that guy. He worked out for teams in Vegas while Summer League was going on. Still no offers. At this point, you’d expect some team to at least give him an invite to camp, a chance to earn a spot. To see if he can be that light-it-up guy off the bench, at least some nights.
But he has yet to really shoot efficiently at the NBA level, and while he believes he can score he is going to have to prove it now. If he gets the chance.
If he doesn’t?