How former Phoenix Suns players will impact NBA Finals
Former Phoenix Suns players in the Finals: Markeiff Morris, Los Angeles Lakers
Do not confuse him with his twin brother, Marcus, who is on the Clippers. When they both came from Kansas, I remember the commentators explaining how Markeiff was a better prospect because he was a half-inch taller. That half-inch meant Markeiff can play power forward, whereas Marcus was pigeonholed as an undersized hybrid forward.
Phoenix took Markeiff, the better prospect. Marcus came one year later.
I think for Phoenix, they missed an opportunity to play the Morris twins together down low. In Kansas, they were the starting frontcourt. At the next level, they were thought to be too short to play power forward and center.
Come to think of it, maybe Markeiff at center (half-inch taller!) pushed it too far. Even if the Suns fully committed to Seven Seconds or Less 2.0, the Morris twins probably could not have reprised Shawn Marion’s and Amare Stoudemire’s role. The Matrix and STAT are legit All-Stars at worst; the Morris twins, invaluable role players at best.
Seven Seconds 2.0 or Micro Ball, a center-less lineup, was created by the Houston Rockets when they traded center Clint Capela for versatile wing Robert Covington.
But what if Micro Ball would have been born five years ago? The Morris twins and PJ Tucker could have reprised their current front-court roles. Dragic and Bledsoe would be their backcourt. Add athletic swingman Gerald Green as their starting small forward. That would be a good team.
Back to the here and now: Markeiff’s time has fluctuated quite a bit. Partly because Markeiff entered the bubble late. He spent the first round against Portland shaking off the rust, not playing too much. The Houston series saw him start the last two games of the series.
Morris was cooking against Micro Ball like a microwave. As a power forward playing alongside Anthony Davis, he finally came into his own.
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1305569501870612480
He developed a nice chemistry with LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the Lakers anti-Micro Ball lineup. He ended up being the catalyst to end the Houston Rockets and their Micro Ball experiment. Denver humbled him a bit, because the matchup dictated that Anthony Davis move back to power forward, which cut his minutes significantly.
But perhaps, in a different world, instead of being the catalyst to end the Micro Ball experiment, he could have been the one to start it – had ex-Suns coach Jeff Hornacek defied NBA logic and moved Markeiff to center and Marcus to power forward.