Marcus Morris Emerges As October's Surprising Celtics Player Of The Month

https://www.forbes.com/sites/hunterfelt/2018/10/31/marcus-morris-emerges-as-octobers-celtics-player-of-the-month/


Oct 31, 2018, 04:52pm



Marcus Morris Emerges As October's Surprising Celtics Player Of The Month


Hunter Felt
Contributor
SportsMoney




Boston Celtics forward Marcus Morris scores on New York Knicks forward Noah Vonleh. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

The beauty of these Boston Celtics is that they are rich enough in talent that, at any given moment, any player could step up and become the team MVP. Still, with the first month of their season coming to an end, it's safe to say that nobody predicted that forward Marcus Morris would have emerged as such an important piece of the Celtics' offense.

The Celtics have begun the season 5-2, despite slow starts from the likes of Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. In fact, they currently have one of the worst offenses in the league and have had to rely on their elite defense to win games. In retrospect, it's not an incredibly surprising situation. Many of the Celtics' gains last season took place with Hayward and Irving sidelined with serious health issues and it was going to take time to reincorporate them into their system. Still, it's been a disappointing start for fans desperately hoping to see signs that this is a team that could hold its own against the likes of the Golden State Warriors. They are not there yet.

With the Celtics' margin of victory this slim, Morris's consistent offense off the bench has kept them afloat. So far, he's been averaging 14.3 points and 7.2 rebounds in 24 minutes per game. Morris was also a key component of the Celtics' most impressive win of the season, their last-minute victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, In the 101-95, he scored 21 points, and picked up 10 rebounds, with most of his production coming in the game's second half.


Marcus Morris occupies a weird in-between space in Boston. He would be a starter on many other teams, but that's not going to be in the cards on this loaded Celtics team. He doesn't have a defined role off the bench either. It's the kind of situation which could easily become untenable, especially for a player like Morris who has been very vocal in the past. This is the same Marcus Morris, after all, who publically attacked the Phoenix Suns for signing him and his brother Markieff and then trading him to the Detroit Pistons.

Morris has seemed to find a home here after the Pistons traded him for Avery Bradley, who was then the Celtics' longest-tenured player. During the preseason, he gave his fellow over-qualified reserves the BWA (Bench With Attitude) nickname. It's a testament to head coach Brad Stevens's system that he has embraced his role as a so-called "starter off the bench" during his time in Boston.


Morris could very well become a starter again, particularly if he continues to play at such a high level. He will enter unrestricted free agency at the end of this season and the rest of the league must certainly be paying attention. A change may come even sooner. Considering Boston's current luxury tax situation there's a chance that they might trade away Morris and his $5.4 million salary.

Right now, with much of the team still struggling to find its offensive rhythm, the Celtics would probably prefer to hang on to Morris and the scoring he's providing off the bench. Morris will cool down at some point, one imagines, but by then the hope is that somebody else will have stepped up. The way this Celtics team is constructed, it's quite possible that every month will have its own particular hero and, as with Morris's surprising start to the season, it won't always be a player that anybody is expecting.



bob


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Where do they dig up these people? What possible relief will trading Morris' very team friendly contract have on the luxury tax? There is no way you replace Morris with someone earning less, just to lessen the hit.

mulcogiseng wrote:Where do they dig up these people? What possible relief will trading Morris' very team friendly contract have on the luxury tax? There is no way you replace Morris with someone earning less, just to lessen the hit.

The point is valid because there's a big risk Celts end up getting nothing in return for Morris in the summer.

I'm not saying Celts should trade Morris.
Right now Morris is the most consistent Celtic on offense.

Best case scenario is Celts trade Rozier and keep Morris.

Whether we like it or not, Rozier will be gone in the summer.
Celts can offer him money but not a starting job.

Hunter Felt lacks any real understanding of Morris' history.  The Morris brothers always played together, from HS to college and then on to the pros.  They both signed team-friendly (below value) contracts in order to stay together on the Suns.  I'll go so far as to guess that they were both made promises from the Suns management before they signed.

The Suns management broke their promise, which led to the twins being upset.  I cannot blame them, if that is how it went down.

To me, both Morris and Rozier are in the same boat.  They both could be starters on another NBA team, but not on a contender, IMO.  I like both of them off the bench and as spot starters, but neither of them bring any team to the promised land.

It all comes down to this: Leave this team and become a starter on a losing team or stay here, come off the bench and WIN!

So far, Morris seems to want to stay.

gyso

gyso wrote:To me, both Morris and Rozier are in the same boat.  They both could be starters on another NBA team, but not on a contender, IMO.  I like both of them off the bench and as spot starters, but neither of them bring any team to the promised land.

It all comes down to this: Leave this team and become a starter on a losing team or stay here, come off the bench and WIN!

So far, Morris seems to want to stay.

gyso

Two small points.

I think it is way too early to declare that Terry Rozier is not a prime time player. He very well could become a starter and leading member of a contending team given the opportunity.

Morris on the other hand DID start for 2 years in Detroit and his numbers this year are actually better in Boston off the bench, than in those years. He is dramatically underpaid, which is why he is likely to leave next summer. But if the Celtics can find a way to pay him a rate he is happy with (something comparable to what they just paid Marcus Smart), I think he would be happy to stay.

mrkleen09 wrote:

gyso wrote:To me, both Morris and Rozier are in the same boat.  They both could be starters on another NBA team, but not on a contender, IMO.  I like both of them off the bench and as spot starters, but neither of them bring any team to the promised land.

It all comes down to this: Leave this team and become a starter on a losing team or stay here, come off the bench and WIN!

So far, Morris seems to want to stay.

gyso

Two small points.

I think it is way too early to declare that Terry Rozier is not a prime time player.  He very well could become a starter and leading member of a contending team given the opportunity.

Morris on the other hand DID start for 2 years in Detroit and his numbers this year are actually better in Boston off the bench, than in those years.  He is dramatically underpaid, which is why he is likely to leave next summer.  But if the Celtics can find a way to pay him a rate he is happy with (something comparable to what they just paid Marcus Smart), I think he would be happy to stay.

You might be right on Rozier, but as of now, I don't see it. And I tend to over-value players in green.

Rozier started the last part of the season for a contender last year. Then helped that team to the 7th game in the eastern finals.

If KI goes down for any length of time he’s our guy.

So I gotta totally disagree with you GYSO. TR had already been a starter on a contender. US

beat

Morris has become a very solid player for us.  I hate to see him leave for FA after the season but that is the reality of the NBA.  The Celtics are very unlikely to keep him.  

Rozier will also be gone.  He is probably a $15 million per year guy in the open market and he is clearly a starting quality PG.  With Kyrie set for a raise that will take him up to around $38 million per the Celtics are not going to be able to afford Terry.

I am sure a lot of people think we should get something for them in return.  But I think their value to us in winning the championship this year is more important to losing them to free agency.  This idea is relative and is by no means the only way to look at it.

Let's start with Terry.  If an offer comes in regarding Terry from a team in desperate need of a PG that can step in , Danny will listen. He has to.  Danny will be looking for a future 1st rounder.  If he gets that, Terry is all but gone.  The Celtics will still be a damn good team without Terry.  We still have Kyrie, Marcus and Wanamaker plus other guys like Tatum and Hayward who can bring the ball up and run their offense.   We are talking about backup depth at this point.  Next year, Boston can use one of their 1st round picks to add a PG if needed. In other words, as good as Terry has  become he is very replaceable.  If he is not traded losing him to free agency is just part of the business of basketball and the changes that happen every single year on every NBA roster. Or maybe the Celtics Trade Smart and keep Terry but they will not be able to keep both.

Marcus is grossly underpaid but Boston is not going to give him a new contract and he knows the next contract is likely to be his last big time payday.  

If some team (likely a playoff team) called Danny and Danny is able to extract value from the deal they would trade Morris as well.  Again, they would look to add some 6' 9" wing from the draft and keep moving on.

beat wrote:Rozier started the last part of the season for a contender last year.  Then helped that team to the 7th game in the eastern finals.

If KI goes down for any length of time he’s our guy.

So I gotta totally disagree with you GYSO.  TR had already been a starter on a contender. US

beat

beat,

You are technically correct, but he was a starter by attrition only. He didn't begin last season as the starter and it is the same this year.

If Kyrie gets hurt this season, Rozier will most likely be our starter again. I don't believe that is what he meant when he said that he wants to be a starter.

gyso

Tonight's game against the Bucks showed Morris is more valuable than Rozier.

Rozier is only valuable if Kyrie gets hurt.

Whether we like it or not, Rozier is leaving because he wants a starting job.

fierce wrote:Tonight's game against the Bucks showed Morris is more valuable than Rozier.

Rozier is only valuable if Kyrie gets hurt.

Whether we like it or not, Rozier is leaving because he wants a starting job.

fierce

I have to disagree. Last nights' game told us absolutely nothing about the relative value of Morris vs Rozier.

Rozier is not leaving because he wants a starting job. Rozier is leaving for the same reason Evan Turner and KO left. They could make more money by leaving. If some team offered Marcus what he thought he was worth he would have left too.

gyso wrote:

beat wrote:Rozier started the last part of the season for a contender last year.  Then helped that team to the 7th game in the eastern finals.

If KI goes down for any length of time he’s our guy.

So I gotta totally disagree with you GYSO.  TR had already been a starter on a contender. US

beat

beat,

You are technically correct, but he was a starter by attrition only.  He didn't begin last season as the starter and it is the same this year.

If Kyrie gets hurt this season, Rozier will most likely be our starter again.  I don't believe that is what he meant when he said that he wants to be a starter.

gyso

Gyso,

Rozier was a starter by attrition (i.e. Depth) but when he was given his chance he delivered and, in my opinion, that is what teams will look at.

bob


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Morris isn't going anywhere on his own. When all is said and done there is only one thing that is important. How many rings he can push in his brother's face. IMO, of course.