Suns: Phoenix Should Keep Markieff Morris
The Phoenix Suns are in a bind. With Markieff Morris going on record yesterday to voice his displeasure with the organization for trading away his twin brother Marcus Morris, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before this turbulent journey comes to its merciful crash landing.
The question now is whether it’d be better to ship Keef away for a return well under his true market value or ride it out and force him to be a professional. For Phoenix to make the best of a bad situation, the front office should resist the gut impulse to trade him away as soon as possible and keep him instead.
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On the surface, it seems like this approach would come with its fair share of risks. Keef said he’ll be at training camp if he’s still on the roster and that he’ll be a professional about this, but even giving Keef a chance to prove he can actually do so is inviting a potential cancer into the locker room.
But Morris also put up career highs in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals in his first season as a starter last year and was one of the most clutch players in the league on the offensive end of the floor. At 25 years old, it’s safe to say he’s not done improving as a basketball player.
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Keef also has four years and $32 million left on his contract, making him one of the best non-rookie deals in the NBA right now. With the NBA’s salary cap set to skyrocket by a projected $40 million over the next few years, there’s no question that Keef could help the Suns out on a bargain of a deal.
In fact, it’s a pity that his anger over the Marcus Morris trade is so badly clouding his judgment that he can’t see how he could thrive playing alongside a defensive anchor like Tyson Chandler, someone whose rim protection would cover some of his mistakes on that end. Chandler’s presence as the dive man in pick-and-roll sets would also open up Keef’s midrange jumper, making him a terrific complement on both ends of the floor.
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The amount of risk actually involved for the Suns here has also been somewhat overstated. If Keef acts out or starts dividing the locker room in anyway, it’s within Phoenix’s power to suspend him without pay to keep him and his potentially toxic presence away from the locker room.
By doing so, the Suns can focus on the goal at hand, they can send Keef a message AND they can avoid giving up a player whose on-court value is much higher than his actual trade value at the moment. Let’s see how long Morris stays stubbornly committed to not being able to play in Phoenix once the paychecks stop coming in.
Right now, Markieff Morris’ trade value is at an all-time low. He finished with the second most technicals in the association last season, he verbally bashed the home fans for their lack of support and he and his brother are currently facing felony aggravated assault charges for a January incident at a Phoenix recreation center.
Add that to his immature comments about being the Suns’ “premier player” and how betrayed he feels by the Marcus Morris trade — sorry Keef, but this is a business — and teams that may have normally been interested in Markieff Morris could be deterred from taking a chance on him and ruining their own team’s chemistry.
Keef knows now that he can’t play with his brother for his entire NBA career, so a team trading for him won’t have to worry about possible resentment that brother Mook isn’t around. But Markieff has also developed a reputation as a head case whose sense of entitlement does not accurately reflect his on-court value.
To that end, teams won’t be lining up to throw assets at the Suns. There’s a chance general manager Ryan McDonough could work some of his magic and hammer out a good deal, but Phoenix lost what little leverage it had left when Keef made his intentions of being traded public. If the deal isn’t right, why trade a depreciating asset without giving him a chance to increase his value?
If Keef comes into training camp with a bad attitude or starts dividing the locker room, then you suspend him without pay and see if that changes his attitude. If he doesn’t, well, that’s his career funeral. But even with the potentially negative influence, the Suns might be better off if they take a stance, refuse to cave to his trade demands and force him to grow up by avoiding giving up a talented player for nothing.
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