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2024 Free Agents - Monte Morris

Summary
Before taking a slight step back in '23-'24, Morris had become one of the better back-up point guards in the league. He had a lot of success with Denver early in his career, being an effective bench player and stepping in as a starter when Jamal Murray got injured. He was a bit overtasked in that role, and while he also was the starter for the Wizards in '22-'23, it was during a pretty unsuccessful season for Washington, and he missed most of the '23-'24 season due to injury. 

Morris is more of a traditional floor general that you don't see as much of in today's NBA compared to previous decades. He hardly ever turns the ball over, which has been consistent throughout his career and even back to college. His 8.5% turnover rate in '22-'23 was the lowest in the league for point guards, according to Cleaning the Glass, and that was even lower in '23-'24 in limited minutes. Morris has a low assist rate though, which is often the case with low turnover players, as they aren't taking chances or simply not playmaking enough to get turnovers. Overall, Morris isn't someone that is going to drive offense, so he's better off playing next to wings that can create.

Morris has been a highly efficient player throughout his career, shooting well from all three levels. His 57% true shooting could possibly been improved by replacing some of his midrange attempts for 3s, as he's a 39% 3-point shooter, but he's a very effective midrange shooter too, hitting 48% over '21-'22 and '22-'23. Morris doesn't get to the rim often, but converts well when he gets there, finishing in the 86th percentile for his position in rim conversion each of the last four seasons prior to '23-'24, according to Cleaning the Glass. 

Defensively, Morris is a smart player that gives good effort and knows where to be in that end. However, he is hampered by his size, as being a small guard hurts his ability to switch onto bigger players. He has decent strength, but not to the level of guys like Kyle Lowry or Marcus Smart who can more easily defend wings. Morris also isn't very disruptive, posting low steal and block rates. 

Morris will be 29 years old as a free agent in 2024, so teams could have some worry about how well he might age into his 30s, especially as a small point guard. Given his recent injuries, and since he was not in the playoff rotation for the Timberwolves, he is not hitting free agency at a great time.
 
Cap Considerations
Morris will be an unrestricted free agent with a $18.4 million cap hold and full Bird Rights, meaning the Timberwolves will have no restrictions on re-signing him. As Morris' cap hold exceeds the salary he will get in free agency, and since the Timberwolves will be operating over the cap, his cap hold is not really relevant.

Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Morris as even teams without cap space could use the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, Room MLE, or possibly even the Taxpayer MLE or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. There's also a chance that Morris only gets minimum offers.

Potential Teams: Timberwolves, Jazz, Suns, Hornets, Spurs

Predicted Contract: 2-year, $15 million with the Timberwolves

Actual Contract: 1-year, $2.8 million ($2.1 million cap hit) with the Suns

Morris ended up signing with Phoenix on a minimum contract, and he may be one of the best players to sign for the minimum this summer.

Last updated: 7/14/2024

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