One thing has been made abundantly clear: Markieff Morris is not happy in Phoenix. That might be the understatement of the offseason. Markieff Morris refuses to talk to the Suns’ staff or return the calls of the players(his own teammates!!). Ever since the team traded his brother Marcus to Detroit, Markieff has been extremely bitter, and has not tried to hide the fact that he wants out. By the accounts of both Markieff and his brother, he will not remain a Sun.
From John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7:
(Markieff) feels disrespected, says the Suns management never called him or his brother after the trade of Marcus Morris to Detroit. He is unhappy the Suns were willing to trade him to Portland for LaMarcus Aldridge, unhappy that they wanted to replace him. He believes he took a below-market deal in order to play with his brother long-term.
And now he is prepared to do whatever it takes to force Phoenix to deal him. He likes Houston because of James Harden and Toronto because of Kyle Lowry, but he honestly doesn’t care where he gets dealt as long as he is not wearing a Suns uniform.
So basically, while the Rockets and Raptors sound nice to him, Markieff’s biggest priority is getting the hell out of Phoenix, ASAP.
Continuing from Gambadoro:
He is going to tell the Suns he can’t play for them, has too much hatred and animosity built up and that they won’t want him around.
Markieff is not calling back teammates and plans to be very standoffish when he reports to camp. He does not plan on arriving until he absolutely has to, so no pickup games with the boys before camp starts. He is expected to make a circus of media day.
He has told those close to him he can never be happy in Phoenix. That he won’t say a word to any of the Suns’ upper management and will have one word answers for Coach Hornacek. He will keep things short and simple…
This is personal to Markieff; he felt the trade of Marcus was a slap in the face to him and his brother. And he feels that the Suns should have known this was coming, that he wouldn’t be happy playing without his brother.
It certainly sounds like Markieff couldn’t be any less happy than he is in Phoenix. He’s a talented player, and the Suns will definitely be able to find plenty of suitors for him should he demand a trade as expected. However, he’s got to realize that the immature way that he has handled this situation is bad press, as is the drama he has caused. He needs to learn to be more mature and handle these affairs like a professional. Immature behavior such as his is a huge red flag to NBA teams. Teams look at not only how a player performs on the court, but also who that player is off the court. I don’t think teams are going to like what they’ve seen from Markieff Morris this offseason.
