Markieff Morris
Height: 6-10
Weight: 245 lbs
Age: 28
NBA Experience: 6 years
Nicknames: Keef, Smooth
By the Numbers:
Games Played: 73
Games Started: 73
Minutes: 27.0
Points: 11.5
Rebounds: 5.6
Assists: 1.9
Steals: 0.8
Blocks: 0.5
Turnovers: 1.7
Field goal shooting: .480
Three-point shooting: .367
Free throw shooting: .820
Net Rating: -3 (105-108)
PER: 13.2
The Washington Wizards had a second major injury to their starting lineup aside from John Wall. Markieff Morris had hernia surgery towards the end of an offseason that also dealt with legal troubles and if you read between the lines, he thinks that he rushed back a little bit in order to not miss too many games early in the season. It was not until at least two months into the season that Morris was back to 100 percent and that certainly helped lead to an up and down season for him.
Season Takeaways
- Between Death Row DC and ‘double MMA’, Morris was certainly the leading physical presence for the Wizards after starting things up last season. He would not back down from any assignment and would make teams feel his presence when they came into the paint. Many teams like to talk about the need to be physical as do many players, but Morris was one of the few that actually put his money where his mouth is.
- Unlike his forward counterpart, Otto Porter, Morris was rather inconsistent throughout the season even after he was past his early injury recoveries. In late January and into early February, Morris had seven straight games with double-digit scoring and averaged 16.3 points per game. A month before that, Morris had four straight games with double-digit rebounding averaging 12 boards per contest. Unfortunately for Washington, most of the other times he was not as forceful as the team needed him to be. After a monster Game 1 against the Raptors with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists, he only averaged 6.3 points and 4.8 rebounds over the next four games of the series. Some may be to blame on him tweaking his ankle towards the end of Game 1, but he will never use that as an excuse.
- When Morris was first acquired, he hovered just above 30 percent as a three-point shooter, but he has certainly worked on that aspect of his game and finished this past season with a career-high 36.7 percent from beyond the arc. Everyone knows that you should surround Wall with shooters and Morris has adjusted his game to be able to live on the outside, which bodes well going forward.
Grade: C+
Last season when the Wizards were a few plays away from the Eastern Conference Finals, they were successful because Morris and Porter served as a nice 3a and 3b option. For much of this season, Morris was asked to be a 2b option with Wall out and his lows in the season were not even fourth or fifth option material. Entering the last season of his bargain contract, Morris has explained that he would like to remain in D.C. However, unless he is willing to take less than the market value for a second straight negotiation to remain with pals like Wall and Bradley Beal, he will be under the microscope to be more consistent in 2018-19.
The Best of Markieff Morris Off The Court
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXnjLm6FUUY/?taken-by=keefmorris5.0
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bbc3U-WFM1s/?taken-by=keefmorris5.0
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bfq6G_UlTth/?taken-by=keefmorris5.0
https://twitter.com/HoopDistrictDC/status/971230177597509632
The Best of Markieff Morris On The Court
https://twitter.com/HoopDistrictDC/status/982074171520897024
https://twitter.com/HoopDistrictDC/status/944724215978250240
https://twitter.com/HoopDistrictDC/status/957450863295025157
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