Markieff Morris Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Morris, McGary, D-League

December 31st, 2015 at 3:41pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Pistons combo forward Marcus Morris can’t hold back from commenting on his brother’s situation with the Suns, and insists that despite Markieff Morris putting a positive spin on things, he still wants out of Phoenix, Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press relays. When asked what is wrong with the Suns right now, Marcus responded, “It’s self-explanatory. You see what’s going on. Sorry to say it, but it’s self-explanatory. I don’t know what’s going on over there. It’s like a [clown] show right now.” Discussing Markieff’s feelings about the franchise, Marcus told Ellis, “One thing about Keef is he’s always positive. Some stuff might happen a little, but he’s always positive. He’s still looking to get out of there, still looking to go somewhere else. Right now he has to be a pro and continue to take care of his business on and off the court.”

When asked if he has advised his brother on what to do going forward, Marcus said, “It’s not like he’s going to read this and say my brother gave me some advice. We talk every day. He knows what’s best for him. We all know what’s best for him, and what’s best for him is to continue to be professional and continue to work hard on his game. I know he’s doing that day in, day out — regardless of the suspension and what’s going on. He’s a hard worker, and so he will continue to be ready when his number’s called. If he gets traded, he’ll be able to contribute to any team in the league.”

Here’s more from around the NBA:

The Thunder have recalled Mitch McGary from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This was the big man’s fourth stint with the Blue on the season.
The Pacers announced that center Shayne Whittington has been recalled from the D-League. This concludes Whittington’s second assignment to the Mad Ants of the season.
The Bulls have assigned power forward Cristiano Felicio to the D-League, the team announced. Felicio will report to the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers’ affiliate, as part of the flexible assignment rule since Chicago doesn’t possess its own D-League team.
Josh Richardson and Jarnell Stokes, both of whom are currently assigned to the Heat‘s D-League affiliate in Sioux Falls, will be recalled on Saturday, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel tweets.

Western Notes: Morris, Jones, Leonard

December 30th, 2015 at 11:26am CST by Eddie Scarito

Suns power forward Markieff Morris apologized to his teammates and the coaching staff and was allowed to return to the team after serving his two game suspension for throwing a towel at coach Jeff Hornacek during a game last week, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic relays. “We kind of put it out there what we wanted from him, what we expected,” Hornacek said. “He’s been good for us in the past. We want him to get back to playing like he did last year. It’s been a struggle this year. We basically tried to get a feel if he was good for that. He said he wanted to get back and help his teammates and help us win.”

”We definitely had a successful meeting and I’m just happy to be back,” Morris said. The forward also indicated that he regretted the comments he made over the summer regarding his desire to be traded, Coro notes. “I could’ve did that different based on the fans,” Morris said. “I think I owe the fans an apology for saying some of the stuff I said. They deserve better.”

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Wolves point guard Tyus Jones is hopeful that his time spent in the D-League this season will translate into more minutes at the NBA level, writes Kent Youngblood of The Star Tribune. “You do go down there trying to prove a point,” Jones said. “Trying to make a statement. I think I played pretty well down there.” The rookie is averaging 24.7 points and 5.0 assists in six contests for the Stampede this season.
After re-signing with the Spurs this past offseason, small forward Kawhi Leonard has taken on an increased role in San Antonio’s offense, much to the delight of coach Gregg Popovich, writes Fran Blinebury of NBA.com. “He’s a lot more demonstrative scoring-wise,” Popovich said. “When he gets the ball, he tries to make opportunities for himself. I don’t have to call his number. In transition offensively, he’s looking for situations where he can post up. Mismatches more. Those are probably the main things. More aggressive offensively and understanding that he can do some things that people can’t guard very well. And yeah, there’s been a incremental increase in the volume of his language.”
The Kings need to suspend center DeMarcus Cousins for his latest outburst that resulted in his ejection from Monday night’s contest against the Warriors, Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee opines. Voisin believes that the organization needs to stop treating Cousins with kid gloves and force him to mature, and she also believes that any suspension should be initiated by the organization and not the league if it is to truly register with the big man.

Pacific Notes: Morris, Pierce, Karl

December 29th, 2015 at 2:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Suspended power forward Markieff Morris could be allowed to return to practice with the Suns today after he meets with members of the front office, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports. Morris has also been asked to apologize to his 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, a source close to the situation relayed to Wojnarowski.

Though Morris is expected to comply, the source also informed the Yahoo scribe that some within Morris’ camp are puzzled by the organization’s requests since the player already apologized via Twitter and sent an apologetic text to coach Jeff Hornacek, at whom Morris threw a towel during a game, prompting his suspension. Morris has also reportedly spoken with his teammates regularly during the suspension that cost him $145,455 in earnings, Wojnarowski adds.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Though Clippers small forward Paul Pierce hasn’t made up his mind about returning for another season or retiring after this campaign, he did drop a hint to which way he may be leaning after Monday’s contest in Washington D.C. when he popped into the Wizards’ locker room and told his former teammates, “This could be my last time in D.C. — as a player,” Ben Standig of CSNWashington.com relays (via Twitter).
Kings coach George Karl is attempting to motivate his team without resorting to the shouting and bluster that he became known for during his coaching tenure in Denver, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. “Just tell stories,” Karl said when asked what tactics he’s utilizing. “You try to bring up situations. My explanation is the last couple of weeks is just trying to explain to them how difficult this league is, how tough it is to be successful in this league.”

Pacific Notes: Morris, Dudley, Rondo

December 29th, 2015 at 11:30am CST by Eddie Scarito

There is too much bad blood for Markieff Morris to thrive with the Suns in Phoenix, but there is belief that he can succeed elsewhere, like his brother Marcus is doing in Detroit, Chris Mannix of SI.com pass along (Twitter links). Mannix adds that several teams still really like the combo forward, especially because of his team-friendly contact.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Jared Dudley wishes he had played better during his lone season for the Clippers, J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic writes. “How it ended with us, I can always say that’s the one team I played on I played really, really bad,” Dudley said. “Fans probably look at me, ‘Jared was a failure,’ which is very true. I was at that time. I’d be the first to admit it.”
The Rajon Rondo–Darren Collison pairing in the backcourt is starting to show improvement, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee observes. “For some reason, the first 10, 15 games, it just didn’t seem like it had much rhythm,” Coach George Karl said. “But it seems D.C. plays off the ball most of the time when that happens. I still like two guys who can run pick-and-rolls and pick and choose your opportunities with two point guards on the court.”

Chris Crouse contributed to this post.

Pacific Notes: Cousins, Morris, Nance Jr.

December 28th, 2015 at 4:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

In an interview with Tzvi Twersky of Slamoline.com, Kings center DeMarcus Cousins said that he believes because he’s been on a struggling team for his entire career he doesn’t get the credit for being a tough leader the way that the Timberwolves’ Kevin Garnett has. “This is what I’ve come to conclude: Winning covers up everything,” Cousins told Twersky. “If KG was always losing and was the same person, they would think he was the worst guy ever. That’s basically the situation I’m in. Since I’m losing, no one loves a loser—everyone loves a winner. That’s how it goes. I don’t see a difference between me and Joakim Noah. If anything, I feel Joakim has more crazy moments than I do—but his is passion, mine are an attitude or anger problems.”

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

It’s unclear if and when the Suns will look to trade disgruntled forward Markieff Morris, but there are a number of teams that are intrigued with the combo forward and his reasonable contract, Chris Mannix of SI.com relays (Twitter links). There is likely too much bad blood between Morris and the Suns organization for that relationship to be salvaged, but there is belief around the league that Morris can thrive in a different environment than Phoenix’s, Mannix adds.
The Lakers have moved rookie Larry Nance Jr. into the starting lineup thanks to his energy and versatility, but he’ll need to look for his shot more often if he wants to continue in that role, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. “I talked to him today that again when you have an open shot, you got to take the shot,” coach Byron Scott said. “[I told him] ‘You have a nice enough stroke’ and if he can make them on a consistent basis, the defense will start to respect him. But he moves the ball. That’s the only thing about Larry. He doesn’t take a lot of shots; he doesn’t even take the ones that are open. That’s one of the main reasons we changed the starting lineup – to get more ball movement.“

Western Notes: Griffin, Morris, Nowitzki

December 26th, 2015 at 4:24pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Clippers have been a disappointment thus far this season after the franchise added numerous offseason pieces in an attempt to bolster its depth, Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post writes. “We haven’t won any big games,” said power forward Blake Griffin. “We haven’t won the games you go into it thinking, ‘Okay, this is one we have to get.’ We’ve lost all those games.” Griffin also notes that the team trying to get all its new personnel on the same page can no longer be used as an excuse, Bontemps adds.

“That was kind of the narrative early on,” Griffin told Bontemps, when asked if trying get everyone on the same page was still a legitimate excuse. “But after however many games, you can’t keep saying that over and over. At a certain point, it can’t be about new guys. It’s just got to be about buying in. Every team has some new guys. Most teams have some new guys. We have to figure something out. We have to be better than this. We are better than this and we’re not showing it.”

Here’s more from out West:

Suns GM Ryan McDonough said that the team would have disciplined any of its players the same way as Markieff Morris, whom the club handed a two-game suspension for throwing a towel at coach Jeff Hornacek during Wednesday’s game, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic relays. “We try not to be punitive with these kind of things,” McDonough said. “We try to be fair. That’s why we consulted with the league. Sometimes, these things do get emotional. We asked for their opinion. There was precedent for these kind of situations but we would’ve done the same thing if it was any of the other 14 players on the roster.“
Despite the Mavericks‘ attempts to add big name players, power forward Dirk Nowitzki still remains the face of the franchise and the team’s best player, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes. “The names [on the scoring list] he’s passed and continues to creep up on are the greatest legends in the history of our game,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’re very fortunate to be able to see a guy like this play. And we’re doing everything possible to keep him playing at a high level and keep him playing as long as possible.”
The Rockets have assigned K.J. McDaniels and Montrezl Harrell to their D-League affiliate, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle reports.

Latest On Markieff Morris

December 24th, 2015 at 1:43pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:43pm: Morris issued an apology via Twitter (hat tip to Coro).

“My frustration got the best of me last night,” Morris wrote. “It won’t happen again. I apologize to Jeff. My teammates told me I hit coach with the towel. In no way was that towel intended for him. I just want to help my team win so much. That’s my focus moving forward.”

1:26pm: The Suns have confirmed the suspension (Twitter link), citing “conduct detrimental to the team.” Morris will miss games against the Sixers and Cavs.

1:05am: The trade value of Markieff Morris is such that teams are asking the Suns to attach another player or asset to him in any proposal, tweets Zach Lowe of ESPN.com, using Archie Goodwin‘s name as an example of the sort of add-on other teams want. The Wednesday towel-toss that marked the latest chapter in a back-and-forth relationship between Morris and the Suns has prompted the team to issue an unpaid two-game suspension, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. It’ll cost him $145,455 out of his $8MM salary, Charania notes. Morris threw a towel in the direction of coach Jeff Hornacek, who tossed it back as the pair engaged in an argument during Wednesday’s game, though Morris told teammates he didn’t mean for the towel, which connected with Hornacek’s leg, to hit the coach, Charania hears.

The Suns are unlikely to agree to give up value on top of Morris in a trade, Lowe says, though the power forward is “very available” on the trade market, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported last week, when he added that talks with the Rockets about trading Morris to Houston, which Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops originally revealed, have been serious. It’s unclear whether the Rockets or another Morris suitor, like the Pelicans, have spoken to the Suns about Goodwin or if Lowe was merely using him as a hypothetical. Goodwin, making about $1.16MM in year three of his rookie scale contract, has only played 41 total minutes in December.

Phoenix has lost three in a row and six of eight, and the Suns are four games in the loss column behind eighth place in the Western Conference. Morris, who backed off a summer trade demand when he showed up at training camp, lost his starting job earlier this month and disappeared from the rotation entirely before re-emerging to average 16.3 minutes per game over Phoenix’s last four contests. All of the Suns players were present for practice today except Morris, who deflected a question last week about whether he wanted to be traded, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link).

What do you think the Suns can reasonably get in exchange for Morris? Leave a comment to share your ideas.

Western Notes: Morris, Howard, Harden, Wolves

December 24th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The saga of trade candidate Markieff Morris in Phoenix took another turn Wednesday when Morris threw a towel in coach Jeff Hornacek‘s direction while verbally directing his anger at the coach during the fourth quarter of Phoenix’s loss to Denver, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic details. Hornacek, who’d just taken Morris out of the game, tossed the towel back at Morris as he shared his own angry words with the power forward whom the Suns have reportedly had serious discussions about trading.

“He’s mad about not playing,” Hornacek said after the game, according to Coro. “I look at the stat sheet. He’s a minus-13 in 12 minutes. So there, I took him out. … He thinks he’s better than that. Show me.”

Hornacek said a discussion will take place among team officials about possible discipline for the towel-toss, which evoked memories of Robert Horry throwing a towel in coach Danny Ainge’s face during a game in 1997 when they were with the Suns. See more from the Western Conference:

Coach J.B. Bickerstaff met with Dwight Howard and James Harden about their leadership roles and how they can function together, and the two stars have begun to work more closely with each other in practice, observes Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle. Howard has on multiple occasions denied a report that he’s upset with playing a secondary role to Harden. “It’s been great,” Howard said of his practice work with Harden. “The thing we are trying to build on the most is chemistry between me and James. We have played together for two years, but the best way to build chemistry is to have those individual workouts together. That’s what we have done the last couple of weeks and we have gotten better at reading each other and the more we do it, the better we will become.”
Former Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien is an investor in Steve Kaplan’s bidding group for a 30% stake in the Timberwolves, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). Conflicting reports emerged in November about whether Levien was involved. The Kaplan group is reportedly progressing toward a deal that would see them eventually take over a controlling interest in the team.
Losing to the Suns last week prompted the Pelicans to hold a players-only meeting, Anthony Davis said Wednesday, according to John Reid of The Times Picayune. New Orleans has won both of its games since then. The team has gone 8-8 after an 1-11 start under new coach Alvin Gentry, who criticized the effort of the players after the Phoenix loss, as Reid points out.

Western Notes: Kings, Morris, Knight

December 19th, 2015 at 11:08pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Coach George Karl believes the Kings’ lack of professionalism and effort are major reasons why the team isn’t winning this season, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. “If we get a more serious, play-hard mentality, a more serious defensive mentality, I’ll take all the blame in the world,” Karl said. “You can blame me all night long. But when I’m managing attitude, when I’m managing approach, when I’m managing professionalism then yeah, my X’s and O’s aren’t good, either.”

The Kings attempted to add professionalism during the offseason, Jones adds, when they brought in 10 new players, many of whom are veterans who have been part of winning situations. Yet, changing habits takes time and the team understands that.

“That’s part of the process of trying to change the culture with winning ways, winning habits, and we’ve got some guys who can help do that,” Rajon Rondo said. “Marco [Belinelli] is a winner; [Caron Butler] is one. We’ve got enough strong personalities to help change the culture. It’s just a matter of time if the team stays consistent with it.”

Here’s more out of the Western Conference:

Eric Saar of Basketball Insiders looks at potential Markieff Morris trades, and he believes a swap with the Pelicans for Ryan Anderson is the best-case scenario for the Suns. Anderson will be a free agent at the end of the season and Saar speculates that he will command near-maximum salary on the open market, which is something the Pelicans may not be inclined to give him.
Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic examines Brandon Knight‘s play since he signed his five year, $70MM contract during the offseason. The Suns were 4-7 last year with Knight in the lineup and they are 10-18 to start this season.
The Mavericks assigned Jeremy Evans to their D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends, according to a team press release. Evans is averaging only 1.9 points and 1.7 rebounds in 7.8 minutes per game for Dallas this season.

And-Ones: Morris, Dwight, Cousins, D-League

December 18th, 2015 at 3:07pm CST by Chuck Myron

Markieff Morris gives the impression that he’s at ease with his situation in Phoenix, even amid his benching, and Suns coach Jeff Hornacek has expressed confidence that Morris will regain his shooting touch, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic details. Morris said that he knew when Hornacek told him he was taking him out of the rotation for the team’s December 6th game in an effort to match up better against the Grizzlies that the move wouldn’t merely be for a single night, but the power forward was vague when asked if he wants to be traded, according to Coro.

“I’m just here for the Phoenix Suns,” Morris said. “That’s all I can be.”

The Suns have made Morris “very available” and are engaged in serious discussions with the Rockets about a deal that would send Morris out for Terrence Jones and Corey Brewer, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported. See more from the Association:

Some people around the league think the Rockets might see fit to let go of Dwight Howard if his health won’t allow him to be a consistent presence in the lineup, ESPN’s Chris Broussard said in an appearance on ESPN’s “Russillo @ Kanell” radio show (audio link). Howard is indeed frustrated about his health, his limited role on offense and the team’s losing, but he’s trying to remain positive and make the situation work in Houston, Broussard also said. Howard, whom the Rockets expect to opt out and hit free agency this summer, has only missed one game since November 21st and has appeared in three sets of back-to-backs over that period.
DeMarcus Cousins‘ name continues to pop up in trade rumors, but Kings GM Vlade Divac once more made it clear that the All-Star center isn’t going anywhere, reiterating to Marc Stein of ESPN.com this week that Cousins is “off the table.”
Less roster churn for the Sixers, a paucity of teams with open roster spots, and a simple lack of talent are among the reasons why the D-League has seen fewer players called up to the NBA thus far this season compared to this point in 2014/15, as Adam Johnson of D-League Digest examines.