Are the LA Clippers that much better with Marcus Morris?

Marcus Morris is a talented player in his own right, but is he the right piece to bring in for a seemingly fragile LA Clippers team in pursuit of a title?

The benefits of adding a player like Marcus Morris aren’t that difficult to locate on the stat-sheet, especially for a title contender like the LA Clippers.

In this, his eighth season in the league, Morris was putting up a career-high 19.6 points to go with 5.4 rebounds per game before the deadline. His 3-point percentage of 43.9 — also a career-best — ranked sixth in the NBA and third among those with more than six attempts per game.

Beyond the numbers, Morris is a capable combo forward who doesn’t fear any opponent. He’s not an elite stopper, but his 6’8”, 235 lbs frame makes him less of a turnstile than most.

It’s all those qualities on just a one-year, $15 million contract that made Morris a top priority for the Clippers at the trade deadline.

Despite firmly entrenched in the championship race, they felt a need for some help at the power forward spot to soak up the minutes afforded to offensively-limited players like Maurice Harkless and JaMychal Green, which Morris is certainly capable of.

Any trade looks good on paper, especially one requiring only the sacrifice of Harkless along with a first and second-round pick.

It’s on the court where the actual verdict is made, and that difference is why the addition of Morris could backfire for a Clippers team not operating as flawlessly as their talented roster would suggest.

Morris was playing the best basketball of his career for the New York Knicks, a team near the bottom of the Eastern Conference that provided more touches than he’d ever had at previous stops.

Without much talent by his side, Morris was the go-to guy in New York, second on the team in shots per game including tops in both clutch attempts and points per game as well.

The freedom at the offensive end is a stark contrast to the role Morris will assuredly assume on a Clippers team with four players averaging at least 18.0 points a night.

Already just 26th in passes and 18th in assists per game, the Clippers have a much more pressing need for floor spacers than shot creators with Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Lou Williams able to drum up open looks.

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This isn’t to say that Morris, who shot 46.8 percent on 3.6 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers per game before being traded, can’t wait in the corner. But after his time with Knicks, it’s an easier adjustment said than done, even if he says all the right things.

Morris’s brash and vocal personality ideally aligns with the Clippers image highlighted by Patrick Beverley and Montrezl Harrell. Yet given how much time LA has spent working on its chemistry amid constant rotation fluxes, adding such a voice could be one too many.

Perhaps the Clippers would’ve made out better by offering that same package for a player more accustomed to a complementary role like Trevor Ariza or Jae Crowder.

Both veteran wings were on the trade market and have slid comfortably into a prototypical 3-and-D role at this stage in their careers, the type the LA Clippers are hoping Morris can become.

He’s never been one to lack confidence in his abilities. It’s part of the reason he’s lasted this long in the NBA. But for Morris’s newest chapter to be successful, he has to understand the bigger picture that’s at play with a championship on the line.

https://twitter.com/LAClippers/status/1226706178794651649

It’s not about enacting his skill-set on every possession as he did from time to time on a hopeless Knicks team that encouraged such actions. It’s about conforming to a role whether he likes it or not in order to place L.A. in the best position to succeed at the highest level.

That might include a few isolation possessions, but it will also come with plenty of stationary sets that involve watching Kawhi and PG assume the responsibilities he feels he can handle.

He was a bit off-beat in his Clipper debut with 10 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field and 0-of-4 from deep. It’s hard to read too much into the performance, though, given the absence of Kawhi Leonard and the unfamiliarity he has with every aspect of the organization.

As long as Morris can stomach what he’ll be asked to do, he’s certainly got the shooting and grit to make a loaded LA Clippers squad that much deeper and a more dangerous playoff team by extension.