The Phoenix Suns saw a lot of drama happening with power forward Markieff Morris this past offseason, and trade rumors have surrounded him for quite some time. At this point, however, it doesn’t sound like the Suns are close to trading Morris.
Ryan McDonough, the Suns’ general manager, talked about not being close to trading Morris.
“I’d say you never know if you’re close or not until something actually happens,” McDonough said. “I don’t think there’s any quantifiable way to measure that. We’re certainly looking at a number of things between now and the trade deadline, which is I think about five or six weeks away. Look, we’re not going to sit here and put our head in the sand and act like everything’s OK and we’re doing everything fine. We obviously need to make some changes and we’ll explore those things as aggressively as we usually do.”
Phoenix has been suffering through a disappointing season this year after a promising offseason. It looked like the Suns had a shot at signing LaMarcus Aldridge in the offseason, but the San Antonio Spurs swooped in and plucked him. Eric Bledsoe went down with an injury and the Suns are struggling mightily.
At 13-25, there are major reasons for the Suns to aggressively pursue a Morris trade. Getting something of value for him would be the right move to make for the future.
To this point in the 2015-’16 season, Morris has averaged 10.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. He has shot just 38.1 percent from the field overall and knocked down 33.3 percent of his three-point attempts. His shooting numbers have to go up, although this situation is not ideal for him.
Expect to hear plenty more rumors as the deadline continues to draw closer. Phoenix is obviously very interested in making a move or two, and Morris is one of its best trade chips.
