NBA Trade Deadline 2016: Markieff Morris traded to Wizards
The Suns were able to move Markieff Morris ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline, trading him to the Wizards
The Phoenix Suns trading Markieff Morris has been talked about virtually since the start of the 2015-16 season as the power forward voiced his displeasure with the organization. However, with the NBA Trade Deadline rapidly approaching, it seemed like the Suns might hold to their guns of looking for an asset and a first-round pick for Morris to get a trade done. Ultimately that wasn’t the case, though, as the Washington Wizards have agreed to a trade.
As reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical and Yahoo! Sports, the Suns and Wizards struck a deal for the troublesome forward:
Phoenix has traded Markieff Morris to the Wizards, reports @ShamsCharania and @WojVerticalNBA.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 18, 2016
The question on everyone’s mind, though, is what the Wizards gave up in exchange for Morris. As it turns out, Washingt was willing to give up a protected first-round draft pick in addition to Kris Humphries and DeJuan Blair:
The Suns get a protected first round pick from Washington for Markieff Morris.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) February 18, 2016
Kris Humphries and DeJuan Blair also going to PHX
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) February 18, 2016
As for the protections on the pick (important in a deal such as this), it will fall to the Suns if it’s outside of the top-9:
The Suns traded Markieff Morris to the Wizards for a protected 2016 first-round draft pick. It is protected Nos. 1-9.
— Paul Coro (@paulcoro) February 18, 2016
Considering the Wizards’ positioning in the Eastern Conference, that pick is almost surely going to transfer to the Suns this season. Even still, Phoenix clearly broke down with the trade deadline getting closer as they didn’t get a young asset and instead got two seldom-used veterans. However, it’s still a solid haul for a player they were trying to unload so publicly.
As for the Wizards, that’s certainly a curious move for the Wizards. While Morris is talented, I’m not sure how much that moves the needle for the Wizards and it almost certainly doesn’t put them in contention to make the Finals out of the East. Given that they gave up their pick, it’s hard to like what Washington did here in acquiring Markieff Morris.