Washington Wizards: Markieff Morris’ Fresh Start
Entering his first full season as a member of the Washington Wizards, Markieff Morris has a chance to wipe the slate clean after being at the center of dysfunction.
After their disappointing season last year, the Washington Wizards are looking to bounce back in a big way this season.
They overhauled their coaching staff by replacing Randy Wittman with former Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks. On the roster side of things, the Wizards spent big money locking up Bradley Beal, who signed a max extension worth $128 million over five years.
In addition to re-signing Beal, they added intriguing depth pieces, ranging from big man Ian Mahinmi to players that have plenty to prove like Andrew Nicholson and Trey Burke. However, arguably the biggest of the Wizards’ recent additions was made well before free agency began this offseason.
At this time just a year ago, Markieff Morris’ career was in complete chaos.
Stemming from his twin brother’s sudden trade last offseason, Morris’ desire to be traded from the Phoenix Suns led to an unusual and lengthy stalemate once the season went underway last year.
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Although Morris’ actions both on and off the court had created distractions in the past, this development reached new heights as it derailed his production and eventually, his playing time.
Yet the Suns’ inability to find any takers that would meet their asking price for Morris during the first half of the season led many to wonder whether they’d be able to move him at all.
That all changed at the trade deadline though, with the Wizards parting with Kris Humphries, DeJuan Blair and a top-9 protected pick in this year’s draft (which later turned out to be Georgios Papagiannis) in exchange for Morris.
Now entering his first full year with the team, Morris projects to be an integral part of the Wizards’ starting lineup this season.
With no traditional veteran presence leading the team at the starting 4 spot for a change this year, the Wizards will have to rely on Morris to deliver a similar production to what they got from the likes of Jared Dudley and Paul Pierce over the last couple of seasons.
That’s not as daunting as it seems, as Morris performed like his former self after arriving in Washington at the All-Star break last year.
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Albeit in a small sample size, Morris dramatically improved his efficiency (Morris’ effective field goal percentage was 51 percent with the Wizards, which is just above league average, per NBA.com.stats) and held a +2.2 net rating per 100 possessions in his 27 games with the Wizards last year.
But one big area Morris will have to make major strides in this year is his efficiency from beyond the arc. A career 32 percent three-point shooter, Morris has big shoes to fill in an area that was a strong suit for the Wizards last year (they ranked 11th in the NBA, hitting 35.8 percent of their three-point attempts).
In a recent interview with Candace Buckner of The Washington Post, working on his three-point shot has been a point of emphasis for Morris this offseason:
"“It’s kind of like you have no choice now with the way the league is,” Morris said. “You got to be able to make that shot at the four. I’ve been working all summer trying to get better at it, continuing to get better at it.”"
Whether his hard work will stick or not remains to be seen, but it’s clear that Morris’ three-point efficiency is the biggest stumbling block left that he’s yet to overcome on the court.
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A change of scenery has served Morris well so far during his brief time in Washington. While he’s still not far removed from being a figure of dysfunction, continuing to build on his solid start from last year will only help him regain the momentum that’s been lost over the last year-plus.