The Phoenix Suns are beginning their early training camp and have already garnered a strong showing with ten players under contract showing up to the workouts. One player however that was not there stands out above others even though it was expected. Markieff Morris decided to forgo the early training camp and make it clear that his desire to leave the Suns is more than a simple suggestion. Now it comes off as a serious demand.
During the offseason the Suns attempted, like many other teams, to sign free agent forward LaMarcus Aldridge. In order to garner the amount of cap space needed to make a reasonable offer the team was forced to trade away talent, included among the group was Markieff’s brother Marcus. Yet even with the moves the Suns were unable to get Aldridge to agree to a deal and the free agent signed instead with the San Antonio Spurs. This left Markieff on the team without his brother, which proved to be a vexing moment for him.
The twins have played together their entire lives minus their rookie years in the NBA. Markieff went to Phoenix and had reasonable rookie campaign all things considered, but Marcus struggled in Houston quite a bit as he only played seventeen games. During their second seasons, Marcus was traded to Phoenix and the two were reunited in the valley. Yet when the opportunity arrived for the Suns to potentially upgrade, it was a no brainer that Marcus would be the cap casualty between the two of them.
Since the move, Markieff has stated he will not be in Phoenix this season. His camp has stated he will be there for mandatory camp so as to avoid losing the $8 million he is scheduled to make on the year. Yet according to Morris he believes that appearance won’t even happen. In an interview from early August with the Philadelphia news outlet The Inquirer, Markieff stated about his hold out, “But it won’t get that far. … I’m going to be out before then, should be.”
The Suns will more than likely move Markieff before the season opener, but the question is for who and for what. The team has had a fire sale mentality with trades lately with the deals that sent Goran Dragic, Mason Plumlee and Isiah Thomas out of Phoenix last season. One can only guess what the Suns will be looking for in return from the 6-10 power forward.