Markieff Morris said he “never had a problem” with former Suns coach Jeff Hornacek, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. The incident in which he threw a towel that connected with Hornacek after the pair exchanged words during a game in December, prompting a two-game suspension for the power forward, was “misperceived,” Morris said. With trade rumors continuing to surround the Suns, see more from around the NBA:
- Mike Dunleavy is poised to make his season debut Saturday and play his first game since signing a three-year, $14.4MM deal to remain with the Bulls in the offseason, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. A setback he suffered in November cost him several additional weeks as he fought to return from offseason back surgery. Nikola Mirotic is still targeting a return after the All-Star break in spite of an unexpected second procedure that came in the wake of his recent appendectomy, according to fellow Vertical scribe Shams Charania (Twitter link).
- Euroleague shooting guard and 2016 draft prospect Furkan Korkmaz has a dead-eye stroke from behind the 3-point line and plenty of hops, but he has a long way to go on defense, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and the Vertical on Yahoo Sports examines. Givony ranks him 12th among the players expected to be in this year’s draft.
- Using the lockout as a means to force the players union to make concessions is the true legacy of former commissioner David Stern, SB Nation’s Paul Flannery asserts amid a piece with fellow SB Nation scribe Tom Ziller analyzing the first two years of Adam Silver as Stern’s successor. It’s difficult to envision the union making concessions in 2017 without the threat of a lockout, Ziller writes.