For the time being, the Phoenix Suns are unified. With six new contract players on the roster, the possibility for two more between Henry Sims, Cory Jefferson, Terrico White, Deonte Burton and Kyle Casey, and Brandon Knight basically being a new guy after suiting up for 11 games with the Suns last season, this team has spent extra time this summer building chemistry.
But at the forefront of his team’s playoff hopes was Markieff Morris‘ widely publicized change of heart at Suns Media Day last week. After Keef publicly demanded a trade this summer and said he wouldn’t be in Phoenix, his comments on Media Day were a complete 180-degree turnaround.
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Though he declined to talk about his offseason comments or the Marcus Morris trade that enraged him in the first place, Keef said all the right things: that he wanted to be here, that he wanted to help this team get to the playoffs, that this was the best Suns squad he’d been on and that he would continue to improve as a player.
For a playoff hopeful team, there was no alternate outcome superior to this. The Suns would never have gotten equal value in a trade and no offense to Mirza Teletovic or Jon Leuer, but Phoenix wasn’t making the postseason out West with either one starting at the 4. Keef makes the Suns a better team, he’s only 26 years old and he’s on a bargain contract for the next four years.
But heading into the 2015-16 season, Keef still has some bridges to rebuild, most notably with the Suns fanbase. That’s been the case for awhile now, but what specifically can Markieff Morris do to repair that relationship? Here are five steps to Keef redeeming himself in the fans’ eyes in 2015-16.
Next: No. 5