The Brooklyn Nets have finally put all of the NBA trade rumors behind them. After being involved in a whirlwind for a few months, things have settled down now that Kevin Durant has rescinded this trade request and the two sides are moving forward with their partnership.
With the attention now turned towards basketball, that means Brooklyn can focus on rounding out the rest of its roster heading into training camp. General manager Sean Marks has two standard NBA contracts remaining, as the Nets roster currently stands at 13 in that regard.
Shortly, that number will likely shrink to one. According to Marc Stein on his Substack, he shared some notes around the league. One of those is the impending signing of Markieff Morris by the Nets.
“Update: The Nets have moved into advanced discussions with free agent forward Markieff Morris as Brooklyn seeks to bolster its frontcourt, league sources say.”
Morris spent last season with the Miami Heat but appeared in only 17 games. He suffered a neck injury in an altercation with Denver Nuggets center and back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic when Jokic shoved him, causing what looked like some whiplash.
That injury occurred on November 8th and he didn’t return to the court until March 12th. He played in six games as a part-time rotation player and one more on April 3rd before not appearing in another contest the remainder of the regular season or postseason.
Morris will bring some experience to the Nets frontcourt, likely helping replace departed veterans LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin. The former Kansas product has 50 games of playoff experience, including 21 with the Los Angeles Lakers during their run to the NBA Championship in the Orlando Bubble in 2020.
Morris was a key part of their rotation that season, playing 18.3 minutes per game off the bench. He knocked down 42 percent of his 3-point attempts that postseason, something that the Nets hope that he can replicate for them.
By bringing Morris on, it likely means that the Nets will not be signing Carmelo Anthony. Anthony is someone that Durant was hoping that the team would bring in, but that would seem unlikely at this point.
Brooklyn has also been linked to veteran big man Tristan Thompson in free agency. David Duke Jr., who spent last season on a two-way contract with Brooklyn, is also vying for a standard NBA contract from the team.
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