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Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
2022 Free Agents - Markieff Morris
Summary
After early success in Phoenix and Washington, Morris seemed to have fallen off around 2019, being bought out twice in a two year span - once by the Pelicans after being traded from Washington, and once by the Pistons.
However, after joining the Lakers mid-way through the '19-'20 season, Morris briefly revived his career as a rotation player for a championship level team. However, Morris struggled in his second season in Los Angeles in '20-'21, struggling to hit shots from outside by only hitting 31% of his threes.
Morris is not a great defender, but he's big enough to hold his own against some of the bigger wings in the NBA. The Lakers even used him as a backup center in certain units. His versatility to play either big position gives him some intrigue for teams needing a small-ball big option.
However, Morris missed the majority of the '21-'22 season due to injury, and was never able to make an impact with the Heat. If he can get healthy and hit enough outside shots, he could become a solid rotation-level player again.
Cap Considerations
Morris will be an unrestricted free agent with a $1.8 million cap hold and Non-Bird Rights. This means that the highest starting salary the Heat could offer him using the Non-Bird Exception is $3.4 million. This should be enough to retain Morris, since he settled for the minimum of $2.6 million to come to Miami. Alternatively, the Heat could use their Mid-Level Exception to re-sign Morris if he demands more than $3.4 million.
Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Morris as even teams without cap space could possibly use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Taxpayer MLE, or possibly even the Room MLE or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. Since he signed a minimum contract in 2021, teams will hope to get him at the minimum in 2022 too.
Potential Teams: Heat, Bucks, Knicks, 76ers, Celtics
Predicted Contract: 1-year, $2.9 million ($1.8 million cap hit) with the Heat
Actual Contract: 1-year, $2.9 million (non-guaranteed) with the Nets
Morris ended up signing a minimum contract as expected, and will fight for a roster spot since his contract is non-guaranteed
Last updated: 9/4/2022
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