Should the Mavericks Trade for Markieff Morris?

There is a reason Phoenix is not the City of Brotherly Love.

As most NBA fans know, the Phoenix Suns traded Marcus Morris to the Detroit Pistons at the start of free agency in a salary dump deal hoping to land LaMarcus Aldridge. The Suns obviously did not land Aldridge and now face a new problem, the unhappy twin brother of Marcus; Markieff Morris.

Mar 27, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Markieff Morris (11) and Phoenix Suns forward Marcus Morris (15) talk during a timeout against the Portland Trail Blazers at US Airways Center. The Trail Blazers won the game 87-81. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Markieff and Marcus both signed four-year extensions with the Suns before last season while both admitting they took less money so they could continue to play on the same team together.  Now that the Suns have traded Marcus, Markieff wants no part of the Suns organization…literally

“One thing for sure, I am not going to be there” says Markieff Morris as he talked to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Markieff went on in the interview to say pretty openly that he expects to be gone sooner than later from Phoenix.

So should the Mavericks be interested?

With the signing of JaVale McGee yesterday it took the Mavericks to 16 guaranteed contracts, not including the partial guarantees the Mavs have handed out like cookies this offseason. Even though I personally think the Mavericks are poised for a very active trade deadline, they very well could give Morris a look.

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Markieff Morris, a 6’10” 1st round draft pick in 2011, played in all 82 games last year averaging 31 minutes per game. He finished the season averaging 15.3 PPG and 6.2 RPG while starting at power forward all year-long. Being just 25 years old, I think he could be a good flyer depending on the asking price.

With a brief criminal issue earlier this year and his outspoken opinion over the last couple of days, the asking price for Markieff could have taken more of a hit. Markieff is due roughly 8 million over the next four years so teams not wanting to sacrifice cap space next year to chase bigger fish might not want any part of this.

With the Mavericks only having 6 eligible players to be traded it gets tricky, but here is a deal that could make some sense

Mavericks: There is a couple of ways at looking at this. First, you are getting a 25 year-old Markieff Morris who could immediately spell Dirk off of the bench and provide quality starts for when Dirk takes games off. He can bang inside while knocking down mid-range shots at will (as I watched him do myself last year inside the AAC). He obviously will cut into the Mavericks cap space next year, but for a 25-year-old at 8 million a year (plus the salary cap rise), I think this would be a decent deal.

Mar 22, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Markieff Morris (11) controls the ball against Dallas Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons at US Airways Center. The Suns defeated the Mavericks 98-92. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

To make the salary cap work the Suns would have to add in another player and I think it would come down between T.J. Warren or Archie Goodwin. In this case it would be Warren and it could be equally beneficial to the Mavericks as Morris. As our own Rami Michail wrote, the Mavericks desperately need another wing. Warren would give the Mavericks another body, a young one at that, who could score and play defense.

In letting go of Felton/Harris, this would surprisingly put the Mavericks in a need for a third PG where they could explore other training camp invites. Giving up Devin Harris would be a tough decision considering the professional he is, but getting 2 decent young pieces that could contribute right now would be a great add.

Suns: Mavericks reunion in Phoenix! For Phoenix this obviously is more about getting rid of the disgruntled Morris. They are in a win-now mode so they most likely won’t ship him off for a simple second rounder, but I don’t think any team is going to give up a significant piece for him at the same time.

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Devin Harris would give them a 6th man type guard off the bench to spell Bledsoe/Knight. At this point Ronnie Price is their backup PG with Booker and Goodwin being the other guards off the bench. I would even say that Felton is an upgrade over Price for backup PG minutes. Powell is obviously a young, cheap piece that could get some big time minutes for them, but it all depends on the Suns view on him obviously. This move would also clear about 5 million in cap space for next summer.

I personally would do this deal right now. There is no guarantee the Mavericks will land a big fish next year (gulp) and adding two young pieces to respectable deals would be a good move. Plus, this would open up a roster spot for one of the other guys. There has been zero reports on the Mavericks even being interested so this is purely speculative.

There will most likely be some better deals on the table for Phoenix, but if you were in the Mavericks front office, would you entertain this deal? Let us know…