A Tale of Two Twins

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of small ball, it was the age of super-teams. It was the era of belief, it was the era of analytics. It was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness. He was the power forward of hope, he was the new addition of last year. The Wizards had everything before them…

And just maybe Markieff Morris is the one to unlock Washington’s true potential. That all depends on who shows up this season.

Good twin or bad twin?

Morris, at his best, is a fringe all-star. Don’t laugh. Not yet. Just think back to two years ago before the LaMarcus Aldridge sweepstakes unfolded. Phoenix was rising (and not in the Harry Potter sense). The Morris twins filled the frontcourt for Mini-Lebron, aka Eric Bledsoe, and the Suns had just improved from 23 wins to a 48-win season. Perhaps no one took a bigger leap than Markieff Morris that year. How many games did he start? Zero. Did he get his? Absolutely.

Morris averaged 13.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists while shooting 31.5 percent from three-point land. Not too shabby just three years into his career, especially considering he only played 27 minutes per game. Just imagine the per-36s. I’ll give you a hint. They look like another small-ball monster’s. And his name rhymes with Tris Tosh.

Then-Suns GM Ryan McDonough decided to mess with a good thing, reneging on the promise that he had made to the Morris Twins. You see, the Morris brothers had toughed it out through a difficult childhood together. They had played college ball together, and they had signed for less money to play side-by-side in Phoenix. Unfortunately, McDonough didn’t see it that way. He saw Markieff’s brother as the asset that would provide the best return, while shedding enough money to be able to make a run at Aldridge that summer.

Suddenly, Markieff didn’t see the Suns as a happy family anymore. The date is August 13, 2015. Speaking with Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Morris says, “If you want to put that out there, you can put that out …I don’t give a [freak]. I am not going to be there (Phoenix) at all. That’s just what it is.” Promptly thereafter, bad twin started showing results on the court. Following back-to-back breakout campaigns, he proceeded to drop significantly in points, rebounds, and shooting percentage.

While Markieff Morris was not unjustified in his anger towards the Suns organization, this lapse in his career could be the reason he’s not guaranteed to a Harrison Barnes-sized contract in 2018. Two years prior, the small ball enamoration hadn’t fully taken hold yet. But looking at Markieff’s advanced stats below, one quickly sees just why the Suns had won 48 games: the presence of a top-5 NBA stretch 4 on their roster.

On the 48-win Suns, Morris boasted stats of: 56.4 percent True Shooting, 18.4 PER, 4.0 offensive and 2.4 defensive to total 6.4 win shares, on just 23.2 percent Usage. Or the same win share totals as Chris Bosh, Rudy Gobert, and Carmelo Anthony this year all while he was coming off the bench. Take that in for a second. The year after his sophomore campaign, at the most valuable position in today’s NBA, Morris had more win shares than this year’s Kris Middleton, CJ McCollum, Danilo Gallinari, DeMarcus Cousins, Kyrie Irving, Nicolas Batum, and $150 million dollar-man Mike Conley.

With Markieff playing his best, the Wiz suddenly have a big three of their own. If Markieff plays vicious defense on the block and around the perimeter, Coach Brooks will have the flexibility to play Kelly Oubre and Otto Porter, two players who have potential to develop into star small forwards, at the 3. With Morris’ perimeter and mid-range shooting stretching the floor, Marcin Gortat and Ian Mahinmi will be able to embrace their roles in the paint. With Markieff playing secondary distributor, team superstar John Wall won’t need to look to involve Bradley Beal himself so much. With low-usage, high-efficiency Markieff Morris on the floor, Beal will have the flexibility to concentrate solely on scoring for prolonged stretches of the game.

And maybe, just maybe Washington will be challenging the Celtics, Hawks, and Raptors for the top spots in the East behind the Cavs. Either way, I don’t see the Wiz missing the playoffs this year with the Morris of old back in the fold. The Wizards have the magic to turn this team into a contender. But Markieff Morris holds the keys to unlocking it.

“It is a far, far better way to play, than he has ever played; it is a far, far better season that they begin than they have ever known.”