Highlights:
- Brooklyn Nets set their eyes on Markieff Morris.
- Morris, 33, agreed to a $2.9 million, one-year contract with Brooklyn in August.
- Stein said that Markieff Morris’ $2.9 million per year with the Nets contract is unguaranteed.
The Brooklyn Nets began looking for a seasoned player to join their squad after learning that Kevin Durant would withdraw his trade request and play another season in Brooklyn. The Nets made it a goal to sign a veteran who could earn Durant and Kyrie Irving’s respect after a turbulent season and offseason. With the recent addition of 12-year-old forward Markieff Morris, they discovered that veteran.
The Brooklyn Nets owner Tsai reportedly made a personal recruiting appeal to the team’s free agent signing Markieff Morris this summer, according to veteran basketball reporter Marc Stein in a post to Substack this week. Morris, 33, agreed to a $2.9 million, one-year contract with Brooklyn in August.
One of the tidbits Stein shared in his column related to the Nets revealed some of the background details that influenced their choice to sign the seasoned forward.
It should be emphasised that the Nets thought the signing of Morris was big enough that, according to reports, owner Joe Tsai personally contacted the 33-year-old to make a recruiting drive. Morris has the gravitas to speak up when necessary, as he did in Los Angeles with James and Davis, according to Stein, and the Nets were keen to sign a veteran who could command the respect of players Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
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The news that Joe Tsai was responsible for Markieff Morris’ signing is intriguing enough on its own, but the most recent information from Stein is even more intriguing given that Morris was chosen because Stein thought he was a player who could gain the respect of superstars like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant while also being able to hold his own against them. Durant submitted his trade request after he lost confidence in the front office and the team’s judgement during the Kyrie Irving discussions. A player who is already having trouble trusting the organisation may not benefit from being added with the assumption that he will be the one to challenge Irving or Durant.
The Signing Of Markieff Morris
Stein gave additional insight into Morris’s contract with the Nets in addition to the reasons the Nets targeted and signed him.
Stein said that Markieff Morris’ $2.9 million per year with the Nets contract is unguaranteed. Morris locks in $500,000 of that sum if he makes the Nets’ Opening Night roster, rising to $1 million guaranteed if he’s still a Net on December 10 and a complete guarantee if Morris is on the roster past January 10 according to Stein’s reliable cap analyst @KeithSmithNBA.
Stein made sure to emphasise that although the contract is not entirely guaranteed, Tsai was interested in him, and there is more to him joining the Nets than just that.
Morris adds depth to a squad that already has a lot of it. If Ben Simmons is given the starting centre job, he will team up with the newly acquired forwards TJ Warren and Royce O’Neale, as well as Patty Mills, Joe Harris, Seth Curry, and Nic Claxton on the bench.