A week ago rumors surfaced that Phoenix Suns big man Markieff Morris wanted out of the desert. Now he’s flat-out said it. In a recent interview, Morris predicted he wouldn’t be playing for the Suns come the 2015-16 NBA season and wouldn’t be surprised if he was gone before he had to report to camp.
Morris has had a clear falling out with the franchise, and it could be due to a number of reasons. The Morris brothers had a run-in with the law recently and it’s possible they didn’t get a firm backing from the organization, Phoenix’s interest in LaMarcus Aldridge this summer could have rubbed him the wrong way and the franchise trading away his brother (Marcus) probably didn’t sit too well with him, either.
Whatever the reason may be, Morris wants out of town and it’s likely the Suns will try to make that happen before the situation gets much uglier. Where could Markieff Morris end up? Let’s take a look at five realistic options:
Detroit Pistons
The Suns traded his brother to Detroit earlier this summer, so this makes sense to reunite them. More importantly, the Pistons only have Ersan Ilyasova to help replace the departed Greg Monroe right now and Morris would absolutely be a huge upgrade. They could even use Ilyasova to get the deal done, although Ersan off the bench would be quite solid.
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors let Amir Johnson walk in free agency and now all they have at the four spot is Patrick Patterson. Yikes. Patterson can hit the three and is a decent stretch four, but Markieff Morris is a severe upgrade that can do all of the same things, but at a higher level. Toronto is a playoff team that wants to be a title contender. Adding Morris gets them one step closer to that goal.
Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets want to get rid of pretty much all of their veterans, while they specifically overpaid big man Kenneth Faried. Faried has some hustle to him and can clean the glass, but he doesn’t have the versatility or scoring ability Morris brings to the table. Denver could kill two birds with one stone here, as they unload Faried’s massive deal (and potentially another player) and get a better player in return.
Dallas Mavericks
Dallas tried to get DeAndre Jordan and LaMarcus Aldridge and whiffed, but perhaps securing the versatile Morris could act as a nice consolation prize. Dallas has been wanting to shift Dirk Nowitzki to the bench to carry the second team offense and bringing in Morris could allow them to do that. Morris fits their up-tempo style, while he can also hit the boards and play some defense.
Houston Rockets
This might be the best fit overall, as the Rockets have been looking for a huge power forward upgrade for years now and still are stuck with Terrence Jones. Jones and backup Donatas Motiejunas are both rock solid, but neither are quite as polished and well-rounded as Morris is. Depending on what Houston would have to give up to get him, landing Morris could be the final piece to a true title contender.
Think another team should make a play for Markieef Morris? Let us hear about it in the comments below!
*photo credit – thesportsquotient.com
