The Markieff Morris saga in Phoenix is reaching soap opera levels and it’s not entertaining in the slightest. Morris’ drama with the Suns is well documented to this point stemming from a trade over the summer which sent his twin brother to the Detroit Pistons in an attempt by the Suns to clear cap space to try and sign LaMarcus Aldridge.
Well, those plans failed and since then, the Suns season has been a failure. They didn’t get Aldridge but they did get Tyson Chandler in the summer, another part of their failed attempt to secure LaMarcus, and he hasn’t done much besides miss a handful of games as of late.
Head coach Jeff Hornacek is on the hot seat and there appears to be a successor in mind for the Suns, according to reports. But before Hornacek was placed in that hot seat and had two of his top assistants relieved of their duties, he had a towel thrown at him by Morris which earned Morris his two game suspension.
Morris’ suspension is over but before Markieff comes back, he needs to apologize to his teammates and members of the Suns organization.
Following from Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
Suspended Phoenix Suns forward Markieff Morris could return to practice Tuesday if a meeting with team officials goes well, a league source told Yahoo Sports.
Morris has completed a two-game suspension for “conduct detrimental to the team” after throwing a towel at Suns coach Jeff Hornacek during a 104-96 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday. Suns general manager Ryan McDonough has asked Morris to briefly meet with him, Hornacek and team president Lon Babby prior to Tuesday’s practice, the source said. Morris has been told he will be asked to apologize to his Suns coaches and teammates, make a renewed commitment to the team for games, practices, weight-training sessions and treatment sessions and attend all NBA and Suns community appearances, the source said.
Morris is expected to attend the meeting on Tuesday and do what is needed to return to practice afterward, the source said. Still, some within Morris’ camp are confused by the team’s requests because Morris already apologized to Hornacek and his teammates on Twitter and sent a separate apologetic text to Hornacek. Morris also has spoken with his teammates regularly during the suspension that cost him $145,455, the source said.
Thinking of the situation as a whole, it’s very questionable to think why the Suns would make Markieff do this, besides trying to keep him on the team and make him a focal point of the organization. Morris has skill and in today’s NBA, he’s a highly coveted asset and several teams have inquired about Markieff but the Suns have yet to budge.
This is either a move to have Markieff’s value increase or a last attempt to make sure the team can win all they can while their star, Eric Bledsoe, sits out with an injury that will see him out until the All-Star break.
They end the year facing the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder so the Suns will need all the help they can get right now.
