I'm not. Look, he's not bad. Role player oughtn't be an insult. You need some of those, as LeBron James can attest to. But you need space for stars as well. I don't think you need to get our stars first and then build a team -- I think if anything recent offseasons have shown us stars aren't interested in that model. But a championship team really needs two of them. Scheming can take away one in the playoffs, but it's hard to scheme away two. And stars both cost money and take up roster space, and our current roster just needs stars. Anyone else we add ought to be on one-year deals, like Johnson and Jerebko. We're overloaded with value - we need marginal utility now. Morris is fine, but he doesn't elevate this team at this point even if he's a good locker room guy, and that part of him is certainly up for debate.
We project right now to have $52 million in cap room next season, with a solid guard rotation, but need for some real star power in the front court. Max salary guys will command $25-30 million. Morris gets in the way of that flexibility, and doesn't add enough to warrant such a loss. If Crowder had walked away on a large offer, it might be different. But he stayed, and that's all the long-term non-star salary we should be adding this summer.
Couldn't he be viewed as another 'asset?' Proven role players in the NBA are worth more then low draft picks or guys like KO.
I kind of see him as a similar piece as IT, favorable contract but plays a position where we have a crowd... At the very least he is a serviceable player with a favorable contract, wouldn't that combination help us if we wanted to use him for a potential trade this year or next?
I think the quality of player we could land would be far superior with a combo of Morris and a 1st rounder then JJ or KO + a first rounder.
Proven NBA players are not worth that much when they're signed to long money. Courtney Lee had been perfectly effective in his role, and was signed to a market fair deal with 2.5 years left. It cost the C's a 2nd round pick to unload him. Jarrett Jack was a decent NBA veteran, maybe signed to a little much, but coming off a year in Cleveland that was no different from his career averages except for his assists (understandable since he was a secondary ball handler with Kyrie on the team). It cost a 1st and 2 prospects on rookie deals to move him. IT actually got the Suns an asset, but it was a 1st that projected to be 28-30 a year out. It was far from a windfall. And I don't think IT is the centerpiece in any deal that nets a star.
If you're trading a star, you're going to be shifting gears on your franchise. That means you want three things:
1) Young players on rookie deals who are starting to show something.
2) Draft picks
3) Payroll flexibility
Morris doesn't get you those. He's reaching the point where his game is what it is -- and that includes his warts (rebounding). Maybe you can get something for Morris from a team that has a star or two and is looking for depth at the hybrid 3/4 spot, and happens to have a trade exception or expiring to match. Maybe. But he's not attractive to a team that's moving a star player. If the Mavs or Clippers could match contracts (they can't), perhaps they'd call. Maybe Portland would be interested. But the market for a player like him is so low, that it's pretty telling to his team's opinion of him if he's on the block and they have no internal or external options to replace him.
Topic: Rumor: Suns are attempting to move Markieff Moris (Read 11097 times)