Suns: Markieff Morris Wants Out Of Phoenix
When the Phoenix Suns abruptly traded away Marcus Morris about a month ago to clear out cap space for LaMarcus Aldridge, most people anticipated a negative reaction from his twin brother Markieff Morris. In a conversation with Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, however, the world learned just how upset the Suns’ starting power forward was with the trade.
According to Pompey, Keef wants nothing to do with Phoenix and hopes to be traded before training camp begins.
“One thing for sure, I am not going to be there,” Morris told Pompey after a morning workout at Competitive Edge Sports in King of Prussia. “If you want to put that out there, you can put that out. I don’t give a f**k. I am not going to be there at all. That’s just what it is.”
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After missing out on Aldridge in free agency, the Suns have maintained that they want Markieff Morris to be their starting power forward next season. The 25-year-old has plenty of potential after posting career highs in scoring (15.3 PPG), rebounding (6.2 RPG), assists (2.3 APG) and steals (1.2 SPG) last season, and he’s on a steal of a four-year contract with the NBA’s salary cap skyrocketing over the next two seasons.
But at this point, Keef could very easily become a poisonous presence in the locker room if he’s not dealt soon, even though Morris says he’ll be at training camp if he’s still on the roster by then.
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“I’ve got to show up. No question,” he said. “You can’t do that. I will be a professional. Don’t get me wrong. But it won’t get that far…I’m going to be out before then, should be.”
It’s been a rocky road for the Morris twins and the Phoenix Suns over the last year. In addition to finishing second in the NBA in technical fouls, Keef didn’t earn himself many new fans by publicly calling out the home crowd support, while his brother similarly burned bridges by screaming at head coach Jeff Hornacek on the sidelines during a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The twins are also facing felony aggravated assault charges regarding an incident back in January, when a man was knocked to the ground and beaten outside a Phoenix recreation center. Keef isn’t buying that the charges have anything to do with the way his brother was unceremoniously traded away.
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“They can tell you anything about the case and all of that,” he told Pompey. “Nah, it has nothing to do with that. That’s just all disrespect and all unprofessional. They called us unprofessional. That’s what that is, unprofessional. No one is trying to hear that.”
The Marcus Morris trade was worth the gamble to show commitment to clearing space for Aldridge, but the Suns’ lack of communication rubbed the twins the wrong way.
“If you’re going to do something, do it,” Markieff said. “The GM, I’ve been there longer than him, the coaches, everybody. I’ve been there the longest, and I don’t get the respect to be like, ‘Yo Keef, we are going to trade your brother. You are our future power forward.’ I’m the future power forward. I’m the premier player of the team….That’s just how business is done I guess.”
Following an offseason where the Suns spent most of the summer working on improving team chemistry, the front office now has a tough decision to make: trade Markieff Morris away while his trade value is at its lowest, or keep him on the roster and glue him to the bench if he’s unwilling to act like a professional.
In the first scenario, the Suns will be accepting a significantly worse return for a talented offensive player on a bargain contract, and they may not even be able to nab a starting-caliber power forward to replace Morris in such a deal.
But in the second scenario, even if they’d be retaining an asset, they’d also risk having a cancer in the locker room while also downgrading from Keef to Mirza Teletovic at starting power forward. The Suns could always suspend Keef without pay if he’s a detriment to the team’s chemistry, but that certainly wouldn’t help his trade value either.
Now that the league knows Keef wants out, the Suns have lost any leverage they may have still had. Even after taking Morris’ age, potential and terrific contract into consideration, Phoenix will have a hard time negotiating a deal for an embattled player who’s facing legal charges and isn’t acting particularly professional on the way out.
But even if the Suns won’t get equal value, it’d be hard to blame them for moving a depreciating asset since both sides could desperately do with a parting of ways.
“It’s just when you get to a point in your life, you just need to move on,” Morris said. “That’s what I need to do for my career, my family, myself. I just need to move on.”
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