According to a report from The Ringer, the Milwaukee Bucks are among those interested in veteran Detroit Pistons forward Markieff Morris ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline.
We’re less than 24 hours away from this year’s NBA trade deadline coming to the wire and the Milwaukee Bucks have been linked to a player fully available on the market, by all accounts.
According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, the Bucks are among those interested in the services of veteran Detroit Pistons forward Markieff Morris, who appears to be a popular target among title contenders ahead of the deadline.
Marcus Morris and the Knicks have everyone's attention, but the Pistons have also received calls from multiple contenders for his brother, Markieff Morris.
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) February 5, 2020
The Lakers, Clippers, Bucks, Sixers, and Celtics are among those teams interested in Markieff Morris, per league sources.
Morris came to Detroit over last summer by signing a two-year, $7.4 million deal, which included a player option for the 2020-2021 season.
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In his 42 appearances in the Motor City this season, Morris is averaging 11 points on .450/.393/.773 shooting splits, 3.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists over 22.5 minutes per contest.
It’s quite the rebound for the 30-year-old who endured through an injury-riddled campaign after suffering from transient cervical neurapraxia and logging stops between the Washington Wizards and Oklahoma City Thunder, along with a brief pit stop with the New Orleans Pelicans in between before being waived.
At this stage in the season, the Pistons are 18-34, five games back of the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic and are on the verge of a full rebuild, given the injuries to All-Star forward Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond and Derrick Rose being among those out there to be had for opposing teams ahead of Thursday’s deadline.
Of course, the question all Bucks fans will likely be asking is what would the reasoning be behind the team’s reported interest in the journeyman forward.
Certainly, fortifying their frontcourt depth would be a big reason and the cost of parting with Bucks players still on their rookie scale contracts and are out of head coach Mike Budenholzer’s rotation, such as Sterling Brown and D.J. Wilson, theoretically wouldn’t be all that much.
It definitely helps that Morris is having a career year shooting the ball from both beyond the arc and by true shooting percentage standards (57.2 percent) and he’s hitting 42 percent of his 157 3-point attempts off the catch, per NBA.com/stats. And Morris’ defensive versatility could lead to him filling a plug and play role behind the likes of superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ersan Ilyasova.
On the flip side, will that be enough for the Bucks to alleviate any lingering concerns with where their roster stands? And is Morris that much of an upgrade over what the Bucks presently have is another topic of debate.
As is always the case, we’ll have you covered with the latest regarding Bucks trade rumors and continue our coverage going into tomorrow’s deadline.