Marcus Morris unsure of how he fits

[BitterJim]

I dont see why hes so unsure. He would be the first forward off the bench(if we are starting brown, Hayward, tatum) as well as our stretch pf which he played so well throughout the season. And say Hayward isn't ready by season opener or at least not ready for starter minutes, he would be looking at starter pf in small ball lineup or first off the bench for horford. Hes a pretty good 6th man who can create his own shot.

Kyrie/rozier
Brown/smart
Tatum/hayward
Horford/morris
Baynes/theis
Or
Kyrie/rozier
Brown/smart
Hayward/morris
Tatum/theis
Horford/baynes

We should be putting a Center (like Baynes) on the court before putting Morris on. Early in the season, Hayward will likely play a short stint to start, then when he comes out we switch to a two big lineup. Putting Morris in instead makes Al match up with bigger centers too much

[Tr1boy]

I think Semi is ready for a bigger role anyway

If Morris is really unhappy (or going to be), trade him

Im sure Danny can find another Morris/Semi type with the 1st pick or with a 2nd round pick(buy)

[Roy H.]

I think Semi is ready for a bigger role anyway

If Morris is really unhappy (or going to be), trade him

Im sure Danny can find another Morris/Semi type with the 1st pick or with a 2nd round pick(buy)

Morris is a starting-level SF/PF who can play capable defense at both positions.  That's hard to replace with a late 1st or 2nd rounder.

[green_bballers13]

I think Semi is ready for a bigger role anyway

If Morris is really unhappy (or going to be), trade him

Im sure Danny can find another Morris/Semi type with the 1st pick or with a 2nd round pick(buy)

Morris is a starting-level SF/PF who can play capable defense at both positions.  That's hard to replace with a late 1st or 2nd rounder.

I agree that Morris is a good player. If he wants to get paid on a discount, we should certainly be interested in signing him.

The problem is that he will prob command 10x the return of a 2nd rounder over the next three years. If we draft a Morris-light type player in the 2nd, will he be better than 10% of Morris? My guess is yes.

[Kuberski33]

You can't keep good backups forever. They want to get paid and teams with soon to be 3 max players can't pay backups $10+ million per year. MM is gone after next year. Because he'll be a UFA, he doesn't have a ton of trade value for us, so he'll play out next season and then almost certainly be gone. It's the way of the world with the way the cap is.

Too much money to be made.  If Danny keeps the core intact the reserves are going to be an always changing combo of guys on rookie/cheap contracts and older vets on one year deals looking for a ring.  Just look at Golden State.

[Monkhouse]

I think Ainge is going to start dangling Morris, Rozier, and some of his picks and see what he can get for offers.

[Larry for 3]

Its  not only the money, its minutes and shots to get the money. If Rozier , Smart, and Morris are all on this team next year, that’s a serious minutes crunch. All 3 need minutes and shots to get paid. It’s not happening here. Then you have Everyone else. Those guys won’t be happy if they aren’t playing as much. Morris sees that writing on the wall, he knows what’s up. It’s just reality in today’s NBA.

[JBcat]

I think Ainge is going to start dangling Morris, Rozier, and some of his picks and see what he can get for offers.

This.  There is a chance we lose both after next year and command too much money.  Maybe consolidate, and see if we can grab a possible Horford replacement for down the road.  For me that’s the elephant in the room is Horford’s age as it’s starting to creep up, and he is our anchor for our team. If he loses a step I wonder how our D will look.

[Tr1boy]

I think Semi is ready for a bigger role anyway

If Morris is really unhappy (or going to be), trade him

Im sure Danny can find another Morris/Semi type with the 1st pick or with a 2nd round pick(buy)

Morris is a starting-level SF/PF who can play capable defense at both positions.  That's hard to replace with a late 1st or 2nd rounder.

Yes but he wont be asked to start .  His versatile D is good but "chucking" a welcome minus

Semi is a tad shorter but can provide similar impact on D and I expect his offense will expand

[bdm860]

Unsure of how he fits in, makes sense.  Worried about his next contract would make sense too.

But hopefully he realizes what 25mpg on this team will do for him.  Per-36 he was averaging career highs 18.3/7.2.  Overall he's getting about the same number of shots he did as a starter playing 30+ mpg in Detroit.

Look at what happened to the perceived market value of Turner, Bradley, Thomas, and Crowder once they left Boston.  If he or his agent are smart, they don't want to leave or get traded in 2019, they just want to make sure there's enough minutes to get that next payday.

And despite what the rotation will look like, there will be some injuries to give him more minutes.  Not even talking about season ending injuries, last year Horford missed 10 games, Brown 12, Smart and Morris both28.  Previous year Crowder missed 10, Horford 14, Bradley 27.  Year before that Crowder missed 9, Olynyk 13, Smart 21.  Minutes will open up somewhere.

But I can understand the reason for concern.

[Roy H.]

I think Semi is ready for a bigger role anyway

If Morris is really unhappy (or going to be), trade him

Im sure Danny can find another Morris/Semi type with the 1st pick or with a 2nd round pick(buy)

Morris is a starting-level SF/PF who can play capable defense at both positions.  That's hard to replace with a late 1st or 2nd rounder.

Yes but he wont be asked to start .  His versatile D is good but "chucking" a welcome minus

Semi is a tad shorter but can provide similar impact on D and I expect his offense will expand

The part I was objecting to primarily was the "Im sure Danny can find another Morris/Semi type with the 1st pick or with a 2nd round pick(buy)" comment.

Morris is an above-average player.  It's just really hard to pluck those types of guys in the late 1st / second.  Of course, sometimes somebody inexplicably falls (Taj Gibson), but outside shooting bigs who contribute on both ends are rare.  I hope Semi turns out to be that rare gem.

[tonydelk]

Morris probably still wants a shot at being a starter some where. Same goes for Smart, Rozier and Baynes. Hopefully DA can make everyone happy and the team still benefits.

Unfortunately they can't make everyone happy.   Most likely they only retain two of Smart, Rozier, Baynes and Morris.  Rozier and Morris are both assets that can be traded for value.  Smart is a wild card because we do not know how the league looks at Marcus and values him.  It only takes 1 team to over pay.  Look at what Evan Turner got in Portland.  I know that cap was expected to be higher and teams were shelling out contracts like they were free jellybeans but 1 team can see what kind of defensive energy Smart brought and like it.  The problem is that he can lose a game with his offense as easily as he can win one with his D.  The C's have a lot of work to do in this off season to make sure they can run it back next year.   

[kmart12]

I think Semi is ready for a bigger role anyway

If Morris is really unhappy (or going to be), trade him

Im sure Danny can find another Morris/Semi type with the 1st pick or with a 2nd round pick(buy)

Morris is a starting-level SF/PF who can play capable defense at both positions.  That's hard to replace with a late 1st or 2nd rounder.

Yes but he wont be asked to start .  His versatile D is good but "chucking" a welcome minus

Semi is a tad shorter but can provide similar impact on D and I expect his offense will expand

The part I was objecting to primarily was the "Im sure Danny can find another Morris/Semi type with the 1st pick or with a 2nd round pick(buy)" comment.

Morris is an above-average player.  It's just really hard to pluck those types of guys in the late 1st / second.  Of course, sometimes somebody inexplicably falls (Taj Gibson), but outside shooting bigs who contribute on both ends are rare.  I hope Semi turns out to be that rare gem.

I agree with this. I am not the biggest fan of Morris, but he absolutely showcased a skill set and production level of a borderline starter while playing for us. While I never liked his poor imitation of Carmelo Anthony on the offensive end, it did produce buckets here and there and he could get it going from the outside in a pinch. Given that and his fair rebounding and defensive efforts (when he wanted to), he'll be missed.

I think the biggest question is whether or not a player like Tatum can step it up defensively and on the glass to mitigate some of that loss. I am not sold on Semi being that guy, but I would gladly take it if he could make it happen.

[celticinorlando]

Morris sees his brother starting and wants to start also. I like Morris off the bench but his attitude and pouting cannot hurt the chemistry of this team. If it does, he must go.

Boston could get something for him for the bench. I still like trading him and drafting a big (Wagner) at their pick.

[smokeablount]

I think Semi is ready for a bigger role anyway

If Morris is really unhappy (or going to be), trade him

Im sure Danny can find another Morris/Semi type with the 1st pick or with a 2nd round pick(buy)

Morris is a starting-level SF/PF who can play capable defense at both positions.  That's hard to replace with a late 1st or 2nd rounder.

I agree that Morris is a good player. If he wants to get paid on a discount, we should certainly be interested in signing him.

The problem is that he will prob command 10x the return of a 2nd rounder over the next three years. If we draft a Morris-light type player in the 2nd, will he be better than 10% of Morris? My guess is yes.

I get what you’re saying, but a player that brings 10% of what Morris does is useless until he can do a lot better.