Adam Morrison: Pay The Man

It's no secret that Adam Morrison has been considered a bust throughout his whole career. After one month of decent numbers (in which he still shot under 40%), Morrison hasn't been a good NBA player at all in his 161-game career. After an underwhelming rookie season, the 3rd pick in the 2006 NBA draft managed to grab a spot on the all-rookie second-team. Then, AmMo missed his whole second season with an injury, and returned to Charlotte only to be greeted by a bench role and a mid-season trade to the Lakers. Morrison won two rings with the Lakers, but while in Los Angeles he rarely ever saw the floor, especially in the postseason, where he appeared in just 2 of 46 possible games for a total of 13 minutes (both games were first-round blowouts).

Then, when Morrison's rookie deal expired following the 2010 season, the Lakers opted to not extend a qualifying offer, no team saw reason to pick him up, and he ended up in Europe. Over 161 games in three seasons, Morrison only shot 37% from the field and 33% from three.

But that was three years ago. Now, let me tell you about this year.

Morrison attempted a comeback to the NBA this summer, first appearing the the Orlando Summer League with the Brooklyn Nets, and then in the Las Vegas summer league with our own Los Angeles Clippers.

And ladies and gentlemen, he didn't disappoint. Far from it, in fact, as he led the Clippers in scoring with 20 points a game. Only 7 players scored more than Adam Morrison-all have guaranteed contracts.

Not only did he score, but he scored efficiently, shooting 55% from the field and 62% from three. Read that again. The dude made 62% of his shots from deep in game competition. That's absurd.

Consider this: the Clippers have 11 players on the roster right now (not counting Travis Leslie's fully unguaranteed deal). They like to carry 14 into the regular season. That leaves room for two more wings and a big, right? So let Armstrong, Hubbard, and another big guy fight it out in training camp, let Leslie and Simmons battle for a spot- and just sign AmMo today.

NBATV analyst Greg Anthony supposedly (I didn't hear it) announced last night on air that Adam Morrison had already signed with the Clippers. And why not? A minimum contract, especially if unguaranteed, is low risk.

I think that if you watched the Clippers in Summer League, you'll agree with me that Adam Morrison deserves a roster spot.