Four days after reports came out of “mutual interest” between the Brooklyn Nets and free agent Markieff Morris, Marc Stein tweeted Sunday night that the two sides have “gone into advanced conversations.” This is certainly a welcome new development after the Kevin Durant trade saga.
Update: The Nets have moved into advanced discussions with free agent forward Markieff Morris as Brooklyn seeks to bolster its frontcourt, league sources say.
My earlier around-the-league notes column: https://t.co/t5akSYVuKz
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 29, 2022
Morris, 32, is a 6-foot-9 power forward entering his 12th season in the NBA. He is currently an unrestricted free agent, and the Nets need to fill out their roster after going through the whole KD trade request song and dance. They are, in fact, expected to move quickly on adding new pieces to the lineup. If they do pull the trigger on signing Morris, the deal would probably be for the veteran's minimum.
Morris would join a Nets frontcourt already bannered by Kevin Durant, Nic Claxton, and Ben Simmons, who might play spot minutes at PF or center. There have also been rumors about adding Tristan Thompson, and it's unclear if signing Morris would affect this.
Markieff, of course, is the twin brother of the Clippers' Marcus Morris. Markieff is a seasoned veteran who played for Miami in the past season. He played for only 17 games, however, owing primarily to injuries.
The Philadelphia native averaged 7.6 points on 47/33/89 shooting splits and 2.6 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per game last season. He has a career scoring average of 10.9 points on 44/35/78 splits. In recent years, he has come off the bench for the Heat and, before that, the Lakers, Pistons, and Thunder. He has started only 61 games in the last five seasons.
Earlier reports actually named the Nets and 76ers as two teams that were both interested in acquiring the services of Markieff Morris.
Morris won an NBA championship as part of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2019-20 season. Back then, fans knew him as a loud and vocal locker room presence. That kind of persona is something the Nets may actually need in the coming 2022-23 season. He would be a good foil to the usually smooth and silent personalities of Kevin Durant and even Simmons.
Morris' acquisition would raise the Nets' total number of regular NBA contracts to 15. They currently have 12 fully guaranteed contracts, a partially guaranteed contract (Edmond Sumner), and a deal with no guaranteed money (Yuta Watanabe), plus a two-way deal (Alondes Williams).
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