Lakers Recall Darius Morris from the D-League

After an emotional NBA trade deadline in which the Los Angeles Lakers acquired point guard Ramon Sessions from the Cleveland Cavaliers and traded away five-time NBA champion Derek Fisher to the Houston Rockets, the storied franchise has decided to turn over a new leaf and start anew in the backcourt alongside Kobe Bryant. Despite many Lakers fans already missing Fisher, the fact of the matter is that the team is much improved and will have a better chance of competing for a title this season.

Along with making some drastic changes before the deadline yesterday, the Lakers have also decided to bring rookie point guard Darius Morris back into the fold. Morris was assigned the L.A. D-Fenders a little more than a week ago and played in just one game during that time period.

The Los Angeles Lakers released a statement on Darius Morris being recalled:

The Los Angeles Lakers have recalled guard Darius Morris from the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

Morris was assigned to the D-Fenders on March 7th and played in one game with the team, helping defeat the Dakota Wizards 99-98 on March 10th.  In 28 minutes, Morris totaled a team-high 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting, a rebound, four assists and a steal.

Morris was the third Lakers’ player assignment of the season for the D-Fenders, who at 30-11, currently own the best record in the D-League.

A rookie out of Michigan, Morris has appeared in 13 games for the Lakers this season, averaging 2.7 points and 1.1 assists in 10.3 minutes.

With Derek Fisher gone and Ramon Sessions now on the roster, Darius Morris will probably be the third option at point guard behind Steve Blake and Sessions.