Report: Celtics Could Make Strong Bid For Suns Forward Markieff Morris

http://nesn.com/2015/08/report-celtics-could-make-strong-bid-for-suns-forward-markieff-morris/


Phoenix Suns forward Markieff Morris wants out of the desert, and the Boston Celtics could be one of the teams in hot pursuit of the veteran forward. Morris, 26, signed a 4-year, $32 million contract extension — a total bargain for the talented forward’s services — last September. The contract matched the length of his twin brother Marcus’. The two took discounts to stay together in Phoenix, but then the Suns dealt Marcus to the Detroit Pistons this summer. The Morris twins are known to be fiercely loyal, so it comes as no surprise that Markieff wants out, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “One thing for sure, I am not going to be there,” Markieff told the Inquirer’s Keith Pompey on Tuesday. “If you want to put that out there, you can put that out. I don’t give a (f–). I am not going to be there at all. That’s just what it is.” ESPN’s Kevin Pelton listed the Celtics as one possible landing destination, suggesting a potential package of Jared Sullinger, Perry Jones and James Young — plus a potential draft pick to sweeten the deal. It seems like a lot to move for Morris, a talented player who puts up good — not great — numbers (career-highs of 15.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in 2014-15) for the competitive Suns. Of course, part of that is due to all three of those Celtics being on rookie-scale contracts and the team needing to match the $8 million price tag Morris comes with in any potential move. One thing to note: Pompey raised one potential helpful point to be that former Suns guard Isaiah Thomas was traded to the Celtics as well. Thomas, an active recruiter for Boston, could be one key selling point for Morris joining the Celtics — if he gets any say in a potential trade  


Seems like alot to give up, especially when Sully can deliver similar numbers already...

Sam and I had a breif discussion of this here;

https://samcelt.forumotion.net/t9583-should-danny-get-on-the-phone


I am now thinking about a
Morris and Bledsoe
for
Sully, Smart and Lee

leaving Stevens with an "interesting" roster of;

Low post bigs- Amir, Zeller, Mickey
High post bigs- Morris, Kelly, Jerebko
Wings- Crowder, Turner, Jones
Main guards- Bradley, Bledsoe, Thomas
BU guards- Rozier, Young, Hunter

while i think it would balance our roster better and inprove the team some, it certainly wouldn't make us a championship team right now. But Bledsoe does move the needle for me a bit and he was reportedly being shopped by the Suns around the draft this year.



of course as Sam pointed out there is that sticky issue about the Morris twins and an assault with a former family friend ( he helped raise them supposedly) to deal with.

kdp59 wrote:Sam and I had a breif discussion of this here;

https://samcelt.forumotion.net/t9583-should-danny-get-on-the-phone


I am now  thinking about a
Morris and Bledsoe
for
Sully, Smart and Lee

leaving Stevens with an "interesting" roster of;

Low post bigs- Amir, Zeller, Mickey
High post bigs- Morris, Kelly, Jerebko
Wings- Crowder, Turner, Jones
Main guards- Bradley, Bledsoe, Thomas
BU guards- Rozier, Young, Hunter

while i think it would balance our roster better and inprove the team some, it certainly wouldn't make us a championship team right now. But Bledsoe does move the needle for me a bit and he was reportedly being shopped by the Suns around the draft this year.



of course as Sam pointed out there is that sticky issue about the Morris twins and an assault  with a former family friend ( he helped raise them supposedly) to deal with.

kdp,

According to the NBA Trade Machine, http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine, this trade fails. Lee cannot be traded with another player. At least not for another month or two.

I don't understand why Phoenix would do this trade. Why would they want Lee? Why would they give up their starting point guard after they got rid of Dragic and Thomas? Was the problem between Thomas and Bledsoe, or between Thomas and Dragic?


bob



.

Bob,

yes I know the trade can't happen until a certain point after Lee's trade was official.

Phoenix is a MESS.

they just signed Knight to a $12M per year extension and reportedly were looking to move UP in the draft by dangling Bledsoe as bait.

They signed both Morris brothers to BELOW market deals, with the caveat they would stay together...then promply traded Marcus to get cap space for Aldridge (who had no intention of signing there).

whoever is running the show there seems to be in la-la land or something (perhaps its the hot sun).


I don't think them getting SMART and Sully in return is an un balanced deal (Lee is needed to amke the salary come close to matching and is an expiring deal).

hell I'd throw in the lesee of our or Dallas first next year and even add Minnys first (which is really two seconds).....though I'd probably wnat a FUTURE (after 2016) first in return to add that much in the deal.


Phoenix roster would be

T. Chandler
A. Len
J. Leuer
J. Sullinger
D. Lee
M. Teletovic
PJ Tucker
TJ Warren
S. Weems
B. Knight
M. Smart
D. Booker
A. Goodwin
R. Price

If Bledsoe was in the mix this would be a very interesting trade.  But if it is just for Morris and we lose Sully than no way - it would be a lateral trade plus Sully may carry more weight but both of them have baggage.

dboss

On the plus side, I like someone with his athleticism and toughness playing beside either Zeller or Lee. On the minus side, aside from the assault thing (I guess anyone—at least any basketball player—can make a mistake), his quotes seem very self-absorbed and what I'd consider un-celticlike. How many times can we assume that Brad can straighten out guys who need straightening out?

Sam

for me Bledsoe is THE get here.

Makieth Morris average 15.3 PPG and 6.2 rebounds

Given those numbers I am not sure I would trade Sully straight up.  The fat Sully averaged 13.3 ppg and 7.5 rebounds

The Celtics should target MN to get a center and I am not talking about the one that looks like one of the villains in the Superman 2 movie.


Dboss

Even worse, dboss, he could look like the Tom Brady sketch by that alleged artist a day or two ago.  Beside that caricature, Whitey Bulger looks like Adonis.

Sam

Sam

Some smart ass commented that the Brady picture was the picture of Dorian Gray

dboss wrote:Sam

Some smart ass commented that the Brady picture was the picture of Dorian Gray

That's actually quite a clever dig.... I heard the poor woman who is taking all the heat for the sketch didn't even know who Brady was...

who knew they still had courtroom sketch artists......seems like something from the last century to me!

but looking at the pick, it seems the "artist" makes all men look like trolls...maybe THATS the real story.....LOL.