Recent New York Knicks rumors include veteran Marcus Morris, whom the team is keeping an open mind about trading leading up to the NBA Trade Deadline.
With the NBA Trade Deadline just days away, there will be plenty of New York Knicks rumors circulating around social media and news outlets. The 2019-20 season has once again been a disappointing one for the Knicks. They have a record of 14-36 and they sit 7.5 games out of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.
Given that, it seems logical that the team would be sellers at the deadline. The playoffs are unlikely and they need to figure out a plan and stick to it. That is what makes this upcoming deadline a difficult one to reach for the orange and blue.
While they didn’t publicly say it, the front office had some lofty goals for the team this season. According to Ian Begley of SNY, the front office believed this was a playoff team and anything less was a disappointment. Building off of that, players who signed what were essentially one-year deals in free agency in 2019 would be judged off the team’s win and loss record, not their individual performances.
One of those players who would be judged accordingly was Marcus Morris. The Knicks signed Morris to a one-year, $15 million deal after Reggie Bullock‘s contract needed to be reworked because of injury. Only one small issue. Morris had already verbally agreed to a deal with the San Antonio Spurs, who had to make other roster moves to accommodate the Morris signing.
While that situation was a messy one, the Knicks are lucky to have Morris on the team. He is having a great season for them, averaging a career-high 19.4 points per game, knocking down 43.8 percent of his 3-point attempts.
A veteran, on a one-year deal having a career season? That is the ideal situation for any rebuilding team, as they can then turn that veteran into future assets, such as draft picks. That is, of course, unless you are the Knicks and were expecting to make a playoff push.
According to Zach Lowe of ESPN, the Knicks are hell-bent on keeping Morris through the deadline. He is someone that they have identified as a player they want to keep long-term to push the rebuild forward.
While that is what they want to do, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN has reported that the New York Knicks are remaining open-minded about trading Morris. With teams knowing the clock is running out to upgrade their roster, they could improve their trade packages for Morris and offer the Knicks something they cannot turn down.
Sources: Knicks have remained enthusiastic about idea of signing Marcus Morris to a new deal this summer, but as trade offers become richer in assets this week, they’ll stay open to idea of moving him. Many contenders have interest in him.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 3, 2020
Given his position versatility and ability to knock down 3-pointers, Morris is someone teams will target at the deadline. One of the teams that have been mentioned as a potential landing spot in the LA Clippers.
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Lowe shared that the Clippers were one team that coveted Morris during the offseason when he was a free agent. They reportedly offered him a 3-year, $41 million deal in free agency. Given the load management plan that Kawhi Leonard is on, Morris would be a good fit for the Clippers.
Turning down a long-term deal was something many people were skeptical of at the time, but Morris bet on himself and has seemingly won that bet. Whether he remains with the Knicks or gets traded to a contender, he has put himself in a position to cash in this offseason as a free agent once again.
The Knicks wanting to hold onto Morris through the trade deadline is a weird line of thinking. The team will have ample cap space this offseason, so they could sign him again even if they traded him away at the deadline.
With no clear path to contention laid out currently, the Knicks should be looking to stockpile as many assets as possible at this year’s deadline. While Morris is garnering the most attention currently, he is not the only player the team should be shopping in the coming days.
Bobby Portis, Reggie Bullock, Wayne Ellington, Elfrid Payton and Taj Gibson all signed two-year deals with team options, essentially making them one-year deals.
The New York Knicks should look to squeeze as many assets out of that group as possible without taking back long-term money to clog their books.