After a long-suggested free agency return, veteran power forward Markieff Morris is at last inking a free agent deal with the Dallas Mavericks, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Read more: Mavericks News: Free Agent Role Player Hints At Return — With Reinforcements
Terms of Morris’ new contract have yet to be revealed, but it will likely be a veteran’s minimum agreement — as all of Morris’ contracts have been since the 2020-21 season.
Morris was a throw-in component of the deal that landed Irving in Dallas from the Brooklyn Nets ahead of the 2023 trade deadline.
The Mavericks re-signed him last season, and the 35-year-old seems to have carved out a solid veteran leadership role with the club. His days as an on-court contributor, however, appear to be over. Morris last had an impactful role on a winning club with the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, during which he helped L.A. win a title (in 2020) with stellar defense and respectable long-range sniping.
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Morris appeared in just 26 regular season contests as a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency deep-bench reserve. The 6-foot-9 Kansas product averaged 2.5 points on .338/.357/.833 shooting splits and 1.5 rebounds, across just 8.3 minutes per bout.
Morris is just the latest in a long line of new additions to Dallas’ roster this summer, following the club’s first NBA Finals appearance in 13 years. The Mavericks fell in five games to the Boston Celtics.
Read more: Celtics Win Record-Breaking 18th NBA Finals With Blowout Victory Over Mavericks
This summer, the team quickly opted to re-tool. Dallas team president of basketball operations and general manager Nico Harrison traded aging reserve small forward Tim Hardaway Jr. and three future second-round draft picks to the lowly Detroit Pistons in exchange for higher-upside backup guard Quentin Grimes.
As part of an epic six-team agreement, the Mavericks added former five-time All-Star wing Klay Thompson via a reported three-year, $50 million sign-and-trade deal, in addition to a 2025 second-round draft pick. Dallas flipped backup guard Josh Green to the Charlotte Hornets and a 2031 second-round draft selection to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Although free agent starting Mavericks small forward Derrick Jones Jr. opted to ditch Dallas for the L.A. Clippers, Dallas added young, springy ex-New Orleans Pelicans wing Naji Marshall on a pretty reasonable three-season, $27 million contract, a slight discount from Jones’ three-year, $30 million deal with L.A. Marshall may not be as good a perimeter defender as Jones — although he’s still solid on that end of the court — but he’s a far better 3-point sniper than Jones, which should give Dallas the ability to spread the floor whether he or Thompson is playing.
Thompson, meanwhile, is essentially an upgrade over Hardaway, as a sharpshooting swingman who can play off of All-Star ball handlers Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Whether Thompson or Marshall ultimately replaces Jones as the Mavericks’ starting point guard is fairly immaterial, both will have a big opportunity to log major minutes in Dallas. Grimes, meanwhile, appears to be an upgrade over Green.
Read more: Mavericks All-Star Credited As ‘Biggest’ Reason Klay Thompson Left Warriors
Morris’ signing isn’t a game-changer in terms of the team’s probably-set rotation, but he will no doubt operate as a reliable coach on the floor, having logged valuable bench minutes on playoff squads during his years with the Washington Wizards, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Lakers.