The Celtics could see a lot more familiar faces this season, this time at a big-league rival. The Knicks announced late Sunday that they have signed veteran forward Marcus Morris to a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 training camp contract. It will be his second stint in New York after he played the first half of the 2019-20 season in the Big Apple before being traded to the Clippers.
The 35-year-old forward will try to carve out a spot on the Knicks as a sharpshooter. The team already has 14 players under contract with guaranteed contracts, but was also able to sign veteran guard Landry Shamet to a non-guaranteed contract last week. Morris will compete with Shamet and forward Chuma Okeke for one final spot on the Knicks’ bench as they try to challenge the Celtics.
Morris moved to three different teams in the NBA last season. The Clippers traded him to the 76ers in December as part of the blockbuster James Harden deal. Morris was traded again to the Spurs at the trade deadline as part of a three-way deal that brought Buddy Hield to Philadelphia. San Antonio released Morris and he signed with the Cavs in March, playing a key role as a backup during the team’s run to the Eastern Conference semifinals when injuries struck. Morris scored 25 points against Boston and sank five 3-point attempts in Game 5 – an admirable performance during the Celtics’ series-clinching victory. Morris spent two years in Boston after being acquired via a trade in the summer of 2017 before the team decided to let him go as a free agent in 2018.
Overall, Morris averaged 6.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game last year with the 76ers, Clippers and Cavaliers, and hit 40.3 percent of his three-point shots. However, his lack of speed and defensive strength certainly limited his market, so he opted to accept a non-guaranteed contract with the Knicks.
Morris has no injury protection on an Exhibit 9 contract as he fights for a training camp spot, but could provide some useful variety to the Knicks’ second unit with a strong performance during training camp. The team landed this offseason after signing Mikal Bridges from the Nets, but the second unit doesn’t have many reliable outside shooters in the frontcourt. Morris could be a cheap option for Tom Thibodeau in that regard as New York looks to match the Celtics’ firepower this season.
