Washington Wizards: Markieff Morris Has Evolved Into A Key Contributor

Overshadowed by bigger names on the roster, Markieff Morris has evolved into a key contributor for the Washington Wizards

When fans tend to talk about the Washington Wizards the typical names come to mind, John Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter and to a lesser extent Marcin Gortat.

However, nobody seems to acknowledge the play of Markieff Morris. The sixth-year power forward out of Kansas has slowly developed into a nice third option alongside John Wall and Bradley Beal.

Otto Porter might get most of the recognition, but he isn’t a guy that really that creates shots for himself. Most of his scoring opportunities come off of simple cuts to the basket, or open jumpers from the perimeter. But in Markieff Morris’ case, he’s tasked with being a shot creator for himself most of the time.

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Unless Wall is finding him for easy baskets, most of Morris’ jumpers are usually a result of him creating looks for himself at the elbow.

Earlier on in the season that wasn’t the case, as he seemed to be one of the guys struggling most to find his rhythm. Through the month of November he shot just 37.9 percent from the field, but despite that, defensively he still was a positive for the team – something he really hasn’t consistently shown throughout the rest of his career.

And he also started to shoot a way better percentage from the field after that dreadful first month. In fact, through the 30 games played between December and January, he shot 47.7 percent from the field, so that’s more of what we should continuing expecting from him moving forward.

Now, I know defensively people still probably believe he’s a total sieve on that end, but that couldn’t be more further from the truth. In fact he’s actually got the highest defensive rating on the team (102.8).

Even known defensive stalwarts Otto Porter (104.4) and John Wall (104.7) don’t have as high of a defensive rating. That alone just shows the type of improvements he’s made on that end of the floor.

Not known to be a real contributor on that side, Morris has seemed to make it a conscious effort in order to get involved more defensively this season, and he’s got the skillset required to do it. He’s quick enough on his feet to guard players out on the perimeter, and because of that, if teams decide to go at him it’s not a big deal if he has to switch out and defend the smaller guards/forwards.

In this video, he’s tasked with defending Rudy Gay most of the night an he just does a fantastic job containing him, and forcing Gay into taking tough, contested looks all game.

Now that’s just one example, but it still shows what he can bring on that side of the floor when he’s fully engaged. There’s a reason why he has the second highest defensive win shares on the team with 0.45, trailing only Bradley Beal (0.48).

He might not be a household name to casual basketball fans, but he is a key contributor to the Wizards success as a team. Morris seems to get this bad rep over his attitude and demeanour out on the court. But the guys just a tough, gritty basketball player, just ask his teammates.

"[via The Washington Post]“He’s giving us a different aspect when he’s out there,” reserve point guard Trey Burke said. “He brings that toughness to the team and we’re going to need that.”"

Come playoff time nothing comes easy, and a guy like Markieff Morris is a valuable commodity to have for that reason. When going up against the best teams in the league you can’t be timid, you need to play with an edge, and nobody does that better on that team than Markieff Morris – although you could argue John Wall who plays with that same attitude.

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So despite not getting the same recognition he’s still just as valuable as the other four Washington Wizards starters. Now, hopefully, he and the rest of the team can sustain some of this momentum and make some noise come playoff time.