Miami Heat: Could Markieff Morris be the next Moe Harkless?

Markieff Morris is expected to play a significant role on the Miami Heat bench unit. CBS Sports currently has Morris listed as the backup power forward on the Heat depth chart next season. Unfortunately, Morris doesn’t fit the typical prototype for a Heat power forward.

Morris has been a player whose success is defined by how close he is to the basket. For instance, in recent memory, Morris’ best statistical season came during the 2016-17 campaign, when he shot 45.7 percent from the field on 11.7 shots per game. He was able to average 14 points per game during that particular season.

Let’s take a look at why newcomer Markieff Morris could fit into the role of the next Moe Harkless for the Miami Heat next season.

His statistical success could be traced to two categories: post-up and roll man possessions. Morris averaged 2.8 post-ups per game, shooting 44 percent from the field on 2.1 shots. Morris averaged 2.4 points per game in the post. Morris supplemented his post-work by excelling as a roll man as he averaged 2 possessions per game.

He made 47.3 percent of his shots as a roll man on 1.7 attempts per game, generating 1.9 points per game. His success in the low post and as a roll man led to him shooting 60.9 percent in the restricted area on 3.6 shots. The field goal percentage led to him averaging 4.4 points in the restricted area: 31.4 percent of his scoring output.

Unfortunately, the Heat either have players with the same skill set or don’t run the sets that Morris needs to succeed. For instance, the Heat were towards the bottom of the league in post-up possessions last season, as they ranked 23rd in the category, averaging 3.6 per game.

Most of those possessions went to one player: Bam Adebayo, as he averaged 2.1 per game last season. Consequently, it isn’t likely that Morris will see a significant amount of time in the post with the Heat.

On the other hand, the Heat already have two players who fill the roll man role on the roster: Adebayo and Dewayne Dedmon. The roll man role accounted for 17.1 percent of Adebayo’s possessions as he rolled to the basket 3 times per game.

Conversely, Dedmon was a roll man 22.5 percent of the time, averaging 1.3 possessions per game. As a result, the Heat doesn’t need Morris to be a roll man next season unless one of these players gets injured.

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Therefore, the Heat will use Morris as a typical power forward in their system. The Heat use their power forwards off the ball for the majority of the game. For instance, last season, 59.3 percent of Trevor Ariza’s shots came from three as he averaged 4.8 per game.

The overwhelming majority of his threes came from one specific type of shot: catch and shoots. Trevor Ariza took 4.0 catch and shoot shots per game, comprising 83.3 percent of his threes.

Unfortunately, Markieff Morris has struggled as a three-point shooter since 2013, only making 34.1 percent of his attempts on 2.7 shots per game. Morris fared slightly better in the catch and shoot department, shooting 35.2 percent on these types of threes on 2.5 attempts per game.

Consequently, Markieff Morris’ tenure with the team will probably resemble the Moe Harkless era. Before joining the Miami Heat, Harkless struggled from three, only making 33.2 percent of his attempts on over 1.9 shots per game.

Like Morris, he also struggles on catch and shoot threes, only making 31.6 percent of his attempts since 2013 on 1.8 attempts. Although Harkless had struggled from three, 84.6 percent of his shots were threes averaging 1 per game, a career-high.

Unfortunately, Miami couldn’t get Harkless to shoot better as he only made 16.7 percent of his attempts on 0.7 shots per game. After six games, the Heat saw that the experiment wasn’t working. Consequently, they removed Harkless from the rotation for the rest of his tenure with the team.
Morris had a similar role as Harkless in Los Angeles, taking 55 percent of his shots from three, averaging 3.3 per game over 75 appearances. Unfortunately, Morris struggled to find success in the role shooting 31.5 percent.

In conclusion, if the Miami Heat choose to use Morris in the same fashion, he faces the same fate as Harkless.