Markieff Morris is coming to the OKC Thunder. He’ll add depth, skill, and intensity to a team that already has a surplus of each. But, how is the fit between Morris and the Thunder?
Sometimes being an OKC Thunder fan can feel a bit like being the last kid picked on the playground. We just stand there around free agency and the buyout season, kicking the dirt dejectedly and trying not to make eye-contact with all the cities who have already been picked to play.
OKC hasn’t ever been the flashy pick, like LA or Houston, who seem to always get picked first, but nobody every regrets picking us. OKC is a first-class organization, with great facilities and culture, and constant success. And now, for the first time, it’s starting to seem desirable.
Credit for that goes not only to the organization and culture, but also to the Thunder’s recent pair of superstars, Russell Westbrook, and Paul George. The duo recruited Nerlens Noel last season, in fact on the phone during the famous house party at which George announced: “I’m here to stay.”
They even recruited Wesley Matthews, who instead went to Indiana for more playing time.
Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, Markieff Morris is now the latest to choose the OKC Thunder, and there’s little doubt they had a hand in Markieff Morris’s decision. So that now makes Noel, Morris, Patrick Patterson, Ray Felton, and Carmelo Anthony (via waiver of his No Trade Clause) who’ve chosen to come to OKC of their own free will over the last two years.
Free agent Markieff Morris has agreed to sign with Oklahoma City, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 14, 2019
The narrative around OKC is changing, and the chemistry is better than ever – so shout out my PG and PG for just being so darn cool people can’t deny it.
Markieff Morris
Also per Shams Charania, Morris is “slated to play a significant role” with the Thunder, so let’s discuss his fit with the team.
First, the basics. Markieff Morris is a 6 foot, 10 inch power forward out of Kansas. I’m obligated to mention he has a twin who plays for the Celtics, so there’s that out of the way.
“Keef” has averaged 11.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists for the Washington Wizards in 34 games this season, and he’s been out since December 26 for basically whiplash from being hit in the face by LeBron James. But he survived being hit in the face by LeBron James, so he’s tough.
In fact, he was recently cleared to return to action.
Morris fits the Thunder culture in attitude, even if not in action, recently calling out bad locker room issues following a confrontation between John Wall and former Thunder coach, Scott Brooks.
Before we move on, something needs to be said. I’m going to be comparing Morris to Patrick Patterson a lot in these pages. Patterson has been pretty disappointing this year, but he’s by all accounts a great guy and a wonderful teammate, so please don’t take any of this as me putting 2Pat down. I’m glad to have him on the team.
The reason I’ll be mentioning Patterson a lot is in my opinion, Morris will be taking most, if not all of his minutes. According to Basketball Reference, Morris has played exactly zero minutes at anything other than power forward or center in his entire career, actually playing more at the five this season.
Morris will not be playing any 3. Morris is a big. With that said, and Shams reporting a significant role, anything close to 20 minutes a game will come largely out of Patterson’s 14.7.
Sorry, 2Pat, but them’s the breaks. So, with that in mind, how does Morris fit this OKC Thunder team? Let’s discuss.