While talented and obviously connected at the hip, it might be time for the Phoenix Suns to consider splitting the Morris twins, as the behavior on and off the court of Markieff and Marcus Morris hasn’t always been beneficial to what the team is trying to do.
It was, ‘Look, you guys are good players, you’re talented players, but the off-court issues or any dustups with the refs or with Marcus yelling at coach, that doesn’t look good and that doesn’t help ingratiate yourself to the fans. You know, they are, from my experience, pretty good guys. They’re young, they’ve made some mistakes, they admit their mistakes. But I think they’ll be back and I think you’ll see more humility from them; I think you’ll see more control of their emotions and we’re going to continue to work with them on it to be the best players and best people they can be.
If you read between the lines, Ryan McDonough is sending warning signals to the Morris twins because of their behavior and what some might suggest is a step back in their basketball development. Above all stands the incident of Marcus Morris getting into a shouting match with head coach Jeff Hornacek, but on court decisions and an overall perceived lack of maturity seems to have surfaced more than before this season.
Both players are signed through the 2018-2019 season. Markieff will be making $8 million a year from now on until the end of his deal, Marcus will be setteling for $5 million a season.
Markieff Morris averaged a career high 15.3 points with 6.2 rebounds per game, but his minute numbers rose to 31.5 a night, and his per minute and per possession numbers dropped slightly. The same goes for Marcus Morris who played 25.2 minutes a night, averaging 10.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.