If not for the availability of Avery Bradley and the situation with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Marcus Morris would still be a Detroit Pistons player. Pistons coach and president Stan Van Gundy admitted as such and revealed he had not entertained the idea of trading him before then.

“We never had one thought about trading Marcus ever. It was the availability of Avery Bradley,” Van Gundy said per Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. “That’s what it came down to. We were in a situation where we had a free agent 2-guard (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope) and nothing had been resolved there, and then Avery’s availability came up and Marcus was what was required to get it done.”

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While not the most talented player in the world, Morris grew into a key player for the Pistons in his two years with the team, as evidenced by him starting all 169 regular-season games he played. He brings toughness, effort, and other intangibles to the team, which coaches always love.

But the Pistons saw they had a big need to fill at shooting guard and they addressed it very well by dealing Morris to the Celtics for Bradley. Meanwhile, Tobias Harris’ continued growth as a scorer and Stanley Johnson’s emergence as a steady starter have been key reasons why the Pistons haven’t missed Morris quite as much this season.