TripleThreat wrote:

GoNyGoNyGo wrote:MOrris will help KNox a lot. Morris is a good player - he knows how to get his shot off and plays hard. Knox can learn many subtle things from Morris. 1 year is wise as Knox should be ready for big minutes next year. This year is about learning from all the youngins!

Morris is a good player, however

1) Refs, coaches and teammates hate him. Doesn't matter what fluff might be said in the press sometimes, people hate him. It's why he's getting offers for only one year , even with the marketplace collapsing, his skill set is worth more than just one year at a time

2) He's a selfish player. Which can be useful in certain situations and lineups and matchups, but honestly not really so much in many cases, which is why he, again, is only getting one year offers

3) Vets compete with young guys for minutes and roles. This "mentorship" thing is overblown. Player X is trying to take your job. Fuck helping him take your job. In some limited cases ( Haslem with Heat or Nick Collison with OKC) you get a very specific veteran held around for something like this kind of role. But it tends to be a special case. Most of these guys ****ing can't stand each other. You live together all the time. Travel together. Train together. It's a family, but a family with problems and tension. You see the same 15 ****wits every single day, how would you feel? Not only that, but have all your **** and problems and flaws aired in the press every day?

The refs hate Morris and his brother. The league administration has stopped trying to even regulate it anymore.

If a player is available, it's for a reason.

yeah but we have portis to set the right teammate tone

Knicksfan wrote:

TripleThreat wrote:

GoNyGoNyGo wrote:MOrris will help KNox a lot. Morris is a good player - he knows how to get his shot off and plays hard. Knox can learn many subtle things from Morris. 1 year is wise as Knox should be ready for big minutes next year. This year is about learning from all the youngins!

Morris is a good player, however

1) Refs, coaches and teammates hate him. Doesn't matter what fluff might be said in the press sometimes, people hate him. It's why he's getting offers for only one year , even with the marketplace collapsing, his skill set is worth more than just one year at a time

2) He's a selfish player. Which can be useful in certain situations and lineups and matchups, but honestly not really so much in many cases, which is why he, again, is only getting one year offers

3) Vets compete with young guys for minutes and roles. This "mentorship" thing is overblown. Player X is trying to take your job. Fuck helping him take your job. In some limited cases ( Haslem with Heat or Nick Collison with OKC) you get a very specific veteran held around for something like this kind of role. But it tends to be a special case. Most of these guys ****ing can't stand each other. You live together all the time. Travel together. Train together. It's a family, but a family with problems and tension. You see the same 15 ****wits every single day, how would you feel? Not only that, but have all your **** and problems and flaws aired in the press every day?

The refs hate Morris and his brother. The league administration has stopped trying to even regulate it anymore.

If a player is available, it's for a reason.

Supposedly the Clippers were offering Morris 44 million, which at least was probably a three year deal, so there was a team thinking differently about him.

Sounds like a good trading chip with one of those power houses out west....especially with his 1 year contract. Doesn't GS need a PF or looking for a big.

franco12 wrote:do the refs hate him as much as they hated (they must have) Rasheed Wallace?

When the league administration wants to **** over a specific player or team, they don't say so out loud. Refs have to go through film review and also a rating scale ( one open to them, one not open to them) They also get "examples" of the league via video of what they should be calling or not calling. If you see the same player on footage as an example, usually it means to **** him over.

Part of the process is to pad/hard cap actual game length for TV broadcasts ( this impacts the networks and the value of commercial revenue/price structures during games)

Part of is to keep games "close" or extend playoff series to create fan interest and excitement.

When it comes to Morris, the refs, as I've been told, basically said **** it. If they lose playoff work or get dinged on their ratings or get ousted out of the league, they don't care. While the league administration can pressure the refs, when the refs line up as a whole and say **** it, it's much more complex. For the refs, someone like Morris is a challenge to their authority in the first place. Since the league gives the refs that authority, the league must let the refs exercise, sometimes, how hard they push against one player.

By challenging the refs and being a dick to them, Morris is, by extension, challenging the league administrations choice to empower those refs in the first place.

Think about that level of pure ****ing hate - I don't care if I starve, I won't tolerate this mother****er one second longer.

Put it this way, Daryl Morey never trades value without some strategy. He moved the Morris boys without any thought to what was coming back.

Also 44 million at 3 years at what structure? If it's two team options for the back end, then what does that get you?

Will Morris be worth his cost to a contender assuming

A) There's a contract to dump in the first place to match
B) What is his value above and beyond a buyout candidate at the leagues vet minimum?

Welpee wrote:https://www.bostonsportsjournal.com/2019/02/11/marcus-morris-teammates-reaction-critical-comments-part-everyone-agreed/

Brad Stevens was happy to see Morris speak his mind and do so while attaching accountability instead of doing it anonymously.

“That one of the things that we say at the very beginning of the year is that we don’t want to be a team quoted of unnamed sources,” he explained. “So if you’re going to say something, you’ve got to put your name next to it. And Marcus’ frustrations were obvious and evident, and you know what, in a lot of ways, I thought he said a lot of stuff that you can’t really argue with, in the last two games. So we need to be a lot better than we were at finishing out games and handling adverse situations in games, and go from there. But as long as we can put our name next to it, I’m good.”

https://celticswire.usatoday.com/2018/09/27/austin-ainge-complimentary-marcus-morris/

Count Celtics director of player personnel Austin Ainge as a fan of Morris’ team-first attitude.

On Wednesday, Ainge would compliment Morris on Twitter, saying “Mook is a great teammate. Can’t win without talented players willing to to do the dirty work like this!”

We got a team full of "doing the dirty work" players. Reminds me of the old knicks and detroit teams. Hopefully some of these vets stick around, and the youngsters turning into little blue collar workers on both ends. If all the stars line up right, this could be the base for a championship team / culture. For now, I will take making the Eastern Conference finals as a successful goal. Need our home grown talent to turn into borderline nba stars. As a deep team, we can beat these nba duo's...But it will take great coaching! Now lets see what Fitz is about.

TripleThreat wrote:

Welpee wrote:https://www.bostonsportsjournal.com/2019/02/11/marcus-morris-teammates-reaction-critical-comments-part-everyone-agreed/

Brad Stevens was happy to see Morris speak his mind and do so while attaching accountability instead of doing it anonymously.

“That one of the things that we say at the very beginning of the year is that we don’t want to be a team quoted of unnamed sources,” he explained. “So if you’re going to say something, you’ve got to put your name next to it. And Marcus’ frustrations were obvious and evident, and you know what, in a lot of ways, I thought he said a lot of stuff that you can’t really argue with, in the last two games. So we need to be a lot better than we were at finishing out games and handling adverse situations in games, and go from there. But as long as we can put our name next to it, I’m good.”

https://celticswire.usatoday.com/2018/09/27/austin-ainge-complimentary-marcus-morris/

Count Celtics director of player personnel Austin Ainge as a fan of Morris’ team-first attitude.

On Wednesday, Ainge would compliment Morris on Twitter, saying “Mook is a great teammate. Can’t win without talented players willing to to do the dirty work like this!”

It's called "Framing The Narrative"

What can Stevens do? Say Morris is a dumbass for airing team dirty laundry in the open press? He could say that, which would only spiral into more controversy or problems. Or he can say he supports in public, then tell Morris to shut the **** up in private.

NO COACH in any sport wants their players saying critical or divisive things in the open press. NO COACH. I don't care what the coach says later to smooth **** out to make it seem reasonable to the press.

It was also a way for Stevens to broadcast that any "leaks" would be found. The team would find out if you want to starting leaking **** to the press.

If someone sticks a mic in your face and asks if you think Marcus Morris is awesome and he's on your team, what are you going to say?

If you think the sibling of one of your very good friends is kind of a total prick, what are you going to do? Call them a prick in the open and start massive **** with a good friend? If you think the spouse of a good friend is a douchebag or a piece of ****, what are you going to do? Start **** at the 4th of July BBQ?

The things players and coaches say to the press most of the time means absolutely nothing.

Your newborn baby isn't ugly!
Your wife doesn't look fat in that dress!
Kobe Bryant is so "driven" to win at all costs!

If he's such a good teammate , why are so many teams taking a pass on him? Why won't a team give him more than a year? And this goes beyond the market collapsing on FAs this year. Morris is actually pretty versatile.

Rumors are the Clips offered him a (presumably) 4 year $40mil deal, which he turned down- I suspect that's why he got rid of his agent (who also represented Lebron- maybe Marcus felt like his agent advised against signing it because he didn't want to give the Clips an advantage over Lebron's lakers). Also the Spurs offered him a 2 year deal.

TripleThreat wrote:

Welpee wrote:https://www.bostonsportsjournal.com/2019/02/11/marcus-morris-teammates-reaction-critical-comments-part-everyone-agreed/

Brad Stevens was happy to see Morris speak his mind and do so while attaching accountability instead of doing it anonymously.

“That one of the things that we say at the very beginning of the year is that we don’t want to be a team quoted of unnamed sources,” he explained. “So if you’re going to say something, you’ve got to put your name next to it. And Marcus’ frustrations were obvious and evident, and you know what, in a lot of ways, I thought he said a lot of stuff that you can’t really argue with, in the last two games. So we need to be a lot better than we were at finishing out games and handling adverse situations in games, and go from there. But as long as we can put our name next to it, I’m good.”

https://celticswire.usatoday.com/2018/09/27/austin-ainge-complimentary-marcus-morris/

Count Celtics director of player personnel Austin Ainge as a fan of Morris’ team-first attitude.

On Wednesday, Ainge would compliment Morris on Twitter, saying “Mook is a great teammate. Can’t win without talented players willing to to do the dirty work like this!”

It's called "Framing The Narrative"

What can Stevens do? Say Morris is a dumbass for airing team dirty laundry in the open press? He could say that, which would only spiral into more controversy or problems. Or he can say he supports in public, then tell Morris to shut the **** up in private.

NO COACH in any sport wants their players saying critical or divisive things in the open press. NO COACH. I don't care what the coach says later to smooth **** out to make it seem reasonable to the press.

It was also a way for Stevens to broadcast that any "leaks" would be found. The team would find out if you want to starting leaking **** to the press.

If someone sticks a mic in your face and asks if you think Marcus Morris is awesome and he's on your team, what are you going to say?

If you think the sibling of one of your very good friends is kind of a total prick, what are you going to do? Call them a prick in the open and start massive **** with a good friend? If you think the spouse of a good friend is a douchebag or a piece of ****, what are you going to do? Start **** at the 4th of July BBQ?

The things players and coaches say to the press most of the time means absolutely nothing.

Your newborn baby isn't ugly!
Your wife doesn't look fat in that dress!
Kobe Bryant is so "driven" to win at all costs!

If he's such a good teammate , why are so many teams taking a pass on him? Why won't a team give him more than a year? And this goes beyond the market collapsing on FAs this year. Morris is actually pretty versatile.

Oh right, he fired his agent. It's the agents fault he reneged on a promise because of his greed.

toodarkmark wrote:Great. A selfish hated player who turned down a verbal commitment for a team that suddenly had more money to offer. That's the kind of players that the Knicks fan deserves.

Oh right, he fired his agent. It's the agents fault he reneged on a promise because of his greed.

* Early in free agency the Knicks and Clippers make offers to Morris. His agent assures him that there are better deals out there and advises Morris to pass.

* Rich Paul is focused on his high profile clients and not doing his due diligence regarding Morris.

* Paul tells Morris the 2 year/$20M from the Spurs is the best deal out there right now (less per year than what the Knicks and Clippers offered) and Morris is furious. Unfortunately the Knicks and Clippers moved on to other players and the offers are no longer on the table. Morris reluctantly verbally accepts the Spurs offer, but he's not pleased.

* Word starts to circulate that there's a problem with the Bullock deal. The Knicks start reaching out to uncommitted players anticipating the Bullock deal is about to blow up. Rich Paul gets wind of this and contacts the Knicks to see if they may now have cap space to offer the previous deal. Knicks say perhaps, but they need to get out of this Spurs commitment before they'll discuss it.

* Paul (knowing Morris is upset) tries to make it right by pursuing this Knicks deal. Morris tells Paul to make it happen but he needs to make sure he doesn't come out of this looking bad. Of course, there's no way for Paul to do this.

* They stall on the signing a deal, Spurs can't afford to continue to wait especially since it's obvious Morris no longer wants to sign (who wants a player who doesn't want to be there), they pull the offer and moved on.

* Morris accepts the Knicks deal and gets more money but his reps takes another hit, he blames his agent for dropping the ball on his free agency and fires Paul.