The Cleveland Cavaliers appear to like what they’ve seen from veteran combo forward Marcus Morris Sr. thus far. The 13-year NBA veteran joined the playoff-bound Central Division club on a 10-day contract earlier this month, and was eligible for a second such agreement before the team needed to make a decision on a rest-of-year deal.
Instead, the Cavs were bullish enough on his output to apparently ink him to a deal that will take him through at least this season. Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com was first with the news:
After the expiration of his 10-day contract, #Cavs are planning to sign Marcus Morris Sr. to a rest of season deal, sources tell @clevelanddotcom
— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) March 28, 2024
Morris has enjoyed a well-traveled 2023-24 season. He began the year as an unused reserve on the Los Angeles Clippers before his $17.1 million expiring contract was used as trade fodder in the deal that shipped James Harden to his hometown franchise and sent Morris, Nicolas Batum, and Robert Covington to the Philadelphia 76ers. Morris was subsequently dealt to the lottery-bound San Antonio Spurs, who cut him so he could sign a buyout market deal with a contender.
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He played no minutes with the Clippers or Suns, but carved out a legitimate rotation spot on the Sixers. In 37 games off the bench for Philadelphia, Morris averaged 6.7 points on .439/.406/.861 shooting splits, 2.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists. In his five games with the Cavaliers, he’s already enjoying a bigger role.
Morris is averaging another minute of court time (18.4, up from 17.2), averaging 7.8 points on .438/.438/.667 shooting splits (all he’s doing on offense is jacking up threes), three rebounds and 1.2 assists a night. It’s an auspicious start for a team that had been a little light on frontcourt vets, and is still missing injured All-Star locker room leader Donovan Mitchell.
Selected with the No. 14 pick in the 2011 draft by the Houston Rockets (one spot behind his twin brother Markieff, who was drafted by the Phoenix Suns), Marcus Morris eventually carved out a role as a switchy 3-and-D combo forward. It took a few years, and a few trades, for that to happen. He played just 71 games across parts of two seasons with Houston before being flipped to the Suns to join up with Markieff. He didn’t become a full-time starter until he linked up with the Detroit Pistons, where he enjoyed a solid run individually with little team success.
Morris finally blossomed into his peak self with the Boston Celtics for some deep playoff runs in 2016-17 and 2017-18. He was a productive role player on the Clippers (and, briefly the New York Knicks for half a season) through the 2022-23 season, but fell out of head coach Tyronn Lue’s rotation this year.
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