When the Phoenix Suns traded Marcus Morris earlier this summer, the team was hoping to throw all their best options to try to secure the talents of then-free agent LaMarcus Aldridge. Phoenix decided to bet the house, send away Morris to try to free up some space to secure Aldridge.
They bet the house but unfortunately for them, the house is now on fire after losing out on Aldridge who went to the San Antonio Spurs.
With the trade of Marcus Morris, Phoenix was now faced with a tough situation. How can they go forward with his twin brother, Markieff, still on the team? It all appeared to be going well. That’s what everyone thought at least.
The Morris twins were long considered an inseparable duo but when Phoenix decided to risk it all and possibly anger the often volatile forward it now appears that the idea may not be working.
After their plan failed, slowly but surely, the Morris twins made their feelings about the organization known. Marcus took to twitter to talk about Markieff’s future and just last week it was reported that Markieff wanted a trade but nothing official came from him. Until now.
Markieff is holding back nothing and had elected to let it all fly. He has formally made it known he wants a trade away from the Phoenix Suns.
Following from Keith Pompey of Philly.com.
Markieff Morris wants out of Phoenix.
The Suns power forward said he feels disrespected by the way the team handled the July 9(th) trade of his twin and former teammate, Marcus Morris, to the Detroit Pistons. Now he is demanding a trade of his own.
“One thing for sure, I am not going to be there,” Morris said Tuesday after a morning workout at Competitive Edge Sports in King of Prussia.
“If you want to put that out there, you can put that out. ” he added. “I don’t give a [freak]. I am not going to be there at all. That’s just what it is.”
If Markieff Morris refuses to play, the 6-foot-10, 245-pounder knows that the Suns can suspend him without pay if they’re unwilling to release or trade him. He is scheduled to report to training camp at the end of September.
“I’ve got to show up. No question.” said Markieff Morris, who is scheduled to make $8 million this season. “You can’t do that. I will be a professional. Don’t get me wrong.
“But it won’t get that far. … I’m going to be out before then, should be.”
“If you are going to do something, do it,” Markieff Morris said. “The GM, I’ve been there longer than him, the coaches, everybody. I’ve been there the longest, and I don’t get the respect to be like, ‘Yo Keef, we are going to trade your brother. You are our future power forward.’ I’m the future power forward. I’m the premier player of the team. … That’s just how business is done I guess”
“I can’t put my finger on it, honestly” Markieff Morris said of the Suns breaking up the team. “Stuff wasn’t that bad. Phoenix is trying to make it seem like people were in there just acting the [freak up. heck] no. We had everything under control.
The 25-year-old says he just wants to go in peace. He doesn’t want any bad blood or bad ties.
“It’s just when you get to a point in your life, you just need to move on,” Markieff Morris said. “That’s what I need to do for my career, my family, myself. I just need to move on.”
Morris stressed that he wasn’t demanding the trade because the Suns traded his brother Marcus to the Pistons, but instead because of the improper way he and his brother found out about the deal. The Suns signed the twins to new contracts last summer as a joint deal with Markieff making more money than his brother.
Markieff makes about $8 million per year, Marcus makes about $5 million.
The Suns will almost definitely be hitting the disgruntled forward with some sort of fine. He averaged 15.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game last season for the Suns with a 15.8 PER. His 3-point range is suspect, but he works very well in the modern smallball NBA and is the prototypical ‘stretch-four’ in the current state of the league.
His contract is a steal especially considering what guys like Al Farouq-Aminu signed for this summer, a contract similar to Morris’ but dealing him won’t be easy. As he stated, he’ll be going to training camp and he will be attending Suns events to fulfill his contract obligations.
With his pending assault case, these new remarks on the team, the Suns leverage to acquire any sort of equal talent from another team is all but gone now. Whatever teams gets Morris will most likely be stealing him away for close to nothing important.
