Fantasy Basketball: Buy Or Sell, Phoenix Suns Edition

Buy: Markieff Morris

Markieff Morris is going to be an incredible value pick this year. Mark that down. Given the controversy going on in Phoenix, he’s going to fall pretty far in most drafts, but when it comes to fantasy basketball, there’s a lot to love.

1. Markieff Morris is durable

At the risk of jinxing his career, Markieff Morris has missed a grand total of one game in the last three seasons, and it was because of a suspension; over that stretch, Morris played in 245 of 246 possible contests, an astounding 99.6 percent.

Simply put, Morris doesn’t get injured, and his minutes per game have gone up at a pretty constant rate for each of the first four years of his career. Durability is a huge plus when it comes to fantasy basketball, and having a guy like Morris can be invaluable in deeper leagues, when there aren’t any standouts left to add in case of an injury.

1. Markieff Morris can score

Whether or not fans like Morris, there’s no denying the guy has the ability to score. Morris ranked sixth in the NBA out of all power forwards last season with 1,258 points, and finished fifth in both made and attempted field goals. With fantasy basketball, points per game and efficiency is important, but the game is widely based around overall production. You want the guy who is going to help you out week after week.

Players that are up and down can cost you just as many matchups as they can help you win, so if you can get some sort of constant production outside your top five or six picks it’s definitely a plus. Morris scored in double-figures in over 75 percent of his games last year, and finished the year with 10+ points in 22 of his last 24 games, while scoring 15+ points in right around 60 percent of them.

And it’s also worth noting in the games Morris didn’t reach double figures he scored seven, eight or nine points over half the time. Again, those aren’t exactly spectacular numbers, but they get the job done.

1. His rebounding numbers are actually okay

Markieff Morris isn’t a great rebounder. Sure. You don’t need a rocket scientist to figure that one out. It’s certainly been broadcast enough on Twitter.

But here’s the thing: per fantasypros.com, Markieff Morris’ ADP was 84 across Yahoo, ESPN and CBS. Doing some math here, with five positions in the NBA, you’re looking at about the 17th best power forward out there, and honestly, his ADP could go down considering all of the noise surrounding him.

But really, the greater point is this: if the power forward you take in the mid-80s is averaging 6.2 rebounds per game, that’s absolutely okay. After all, Markieff Morris ranked 15th out of all power forwards last year in TOTAL rebounds, even though he ranked just 21st in rebounds per game. This ties back in with his durability, as he’s on the court enough to overcome his mediocre 10.7 rebound rate (which ranks 64th out of all power forwards).

And once again, you have to consider the following: the Markieff Morris trade situation will only serve to drop his value. There are going to be a lot of people afraid to take a chance on him, which means you can get him way later than he should normally go. But even if he is traded, Morris should still be able to get his points and boards, and in fact, his role may even increase.

For that reason, I’m really high on Morris’ value as a draft pick, because he may still be available when the eighth or ninth round of your draft rolls around, even though he probably shouldn’t be.

Next: Sell: Any SG Other Than Brandon Knight