Markieff Morris has been one of the reoccurring stories of the NBA since the offseason. The Phoenix Suns forward has made it no secret that he is unhappy in his current situation, having lost trust of the organization that traded away his twin brother. That has led to public spats, including one in which he threw a towel at his head coach. Morris has firmly cemented himself as a head-case in the NBA.
With the Suns looking to offload the player that has most negatively regressed and affected their team, a surprising candidate has emerged. According to a report from Cleveland.com, members within the Cavalier are at least open to the team trading for the talented but troubled forward:
Influential figures within the Cavaliers’ locker room are open to the notion of trading for disgruntled Phoenix Suns power forward Markieff Morris, cleveland.com has learned.
They believe the Cavs can get the most potential out of him in the role he’d be assigned.
First things first, “influential figures” has to mean LeBron James. There is no one more influential than LeBron within that organization and his opinion holds a ton of weight in how the front office makes personnel decision.
Secondly, Morris would certainly be an interesting addition to the Cavaliers. At his best, he is a stretch-four who can also put the ball on the floor and create shots for himself and others. That is a valuable addition to a Cavaliers bench that sometimes has trouble scoring. At his worst, however, Markieff can create tension in the locker room through poor play and attitude. Do the Cavs believe they can take that risk and overcome any potential negative side effect? Perhaps they do. Having LeBron in that locker room certainly helps. But according to that same report, the Cavs’ front office is not as certain:
However, league sources with knowledge of the Cavaliers’ thinking insist there’s no connection right now between Morris and the defending Eastern Conference champions. I’m told the organization isn’t too keen with the idea, fearing the team chemistry would be ruined.
That’s a very real and very valid concern from the Cavaliers. This team should be able to mostly coast to the finals. They do not need a chemistry issue to give them problems.
Instead, it seems apparent that the team is looking for a different kind of help: Instead, the Cavs on the lookout for another defensive-minded wing with a long distance spot-up stroke, cleveland.com was informed.
The Cavs will have plenty of options in trades with a large trade exception and Timofey Mozgov and Anderson Varejao’s expiring contracts. If they feel the need to add reinforcements, they will be able to find some replacement level players to join their team. But the team must weigh the potential benefits of those moves and see if they are worth shaking up a championship contending team for.
