Phoenix Suns happy with their draft pick, Markieff Morris – NBA Update
The Phoenix suns drafted Markieff Morris as the 13th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft and their General Manager Lance Blanks is adamant that the Suns got the man they wanted.
Markieff Morris, whose twin brother Marcus Morris was drafted by the Houston Rockets as the 14th overall pick, played for Kansas State last year. The player stands 6-foot-10 and weighs 245 lb. The power forward had a
very effective season for Kansas before the Draft and the Suns consider him to be ready for making an instant impact.
Morris’ game is many faceted with the player being a force on both ends of the court. He is a good finisher inside but added range to his shot last season. His shooting numbers went up considerably, even from beyond the 3-point
line. Morris is also able to defend strong athletes in the post area and is an aggressive rebounder, the likes of which the Phoenix suns needed.
As the Suns missed out on the playoffs this year, with a lack of strength and rebounding a major reason, drafting Morris made sense to them. The player displays resolute tendencies and a toughness that could stand him in good stead
once the NBA season starts. The Phoenix Suns GM admitted that this was a big factor in making the decision to draft Markieff Morris,
“He’s tough. We have a team that is resilient, but he offers us a mental and a physical toughness that is almost impossible to quantify with numbers. He’ll be able to balance out our front line and offer us a toughness that is
much needed here.” Blanks said about Markieff.
There were rumours that the Suns were interested in Jimmer Fredette, a point guard drafted as the 10th overall pick by the Milwaukee Bucks and traded to the Sacramento Kings on draft night, and Tristan Thompson. Thompson
went to the Cleveland Cavaliers as the fourth pick. However Lance Blanks said the Suns always had Markieff Morris in mind as the 13th pick. He said Phoenix had extensively scouted players and knew which ones would fit in well with them. Morris was
their choice and they stayed the course even though some other talented players were still available,
“We stayed true to our process,” Blanks said. “We’re very process driven and we spent a lot of time researching every guy in the draft who we thought made sense for this organization. [Morris'] name surfaced as a possibility as
we looked at the numbers, and we’re pretty excited. It all made sense based on where we had him on the board.”
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