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Washington Wizards Acquire Markieff Morris From Suns

By Ben Palmer

Jan 26, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Markieff Morris (11) looks for an opening past Philadelphia 76ers forward Jerami Grant (39) during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Philadelphia 76ers won 113-103. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 26, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Markieff Morris (11) looks for an opening past Philadelphia 76ers forward Jerami Grant (39) during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Philadelphia 76ers won 113-103. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Washington Wizards have acquired Markieff Morris from the Phoenix Suns.

The Washington Wizards have acquired Markieff Morris from the Phoenix Suns for Kris Humphries, Dejuan Blair and a 2016 first-round pick. The first-round pick is top-nine protected.

Morris (6’11”, 245lbs) was drafted 13th overall out of the University of Kansas in 2011 by the Suns and has been getting an increase in minutes per game in almost every year since then. So far this year, he’s averaging 11.6 points per game in 24.8 minutes per game. Last year he averaged 15.3 points per game in 31.5 minutes per game.

Morris will probably be Nene’s backup for the rest of this year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he slots his way into the starting role next year after Nene’s contract is up (assuming the Wizards won’t sign him, which I don’t think they will).

The addition of Morris is an interesting one for the Wizards. He should provide better bench support than Humphries and Blair did, but Morris has a history of some attitude issues. He’s been suspended twice this year for conduct detrimental to the team and is currently facing felony aggravated assault charges from back in January. It was obvious that Morris was no fan of the Suns as a franchise, as he demanded a trade earlier in the year and also got into a fight with a teammate on the bench during a game at one point.

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The other issue with Morris is that he’s owed about $8M over the next three seasons, something that’s going to hit Washington’s cap a little harder than Humphries ($4.4M this year and non-guaranteed $4.63 next year) and Blair ($2M this year and non-guaranteed $2M next year) did, which is especially going to be an issue if Washington wants to go after Kevin Durant in the offseason, and I think everyone knows that they do.

Regardless, Morris will make an interesting addition to the team, he’s a good player, perhaps a change of scenery will work well for him and if he can turn into a solid player (he’s only 26) and become a viable Nene replacement next year, he might be worth the investment.

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