Per Adrian Wojnarowski, the Minnesota Timberwolves are acquiring Monte Morris from the Detroit Pistons for Shake Milton, Troy Brown, and a 2030 second-round pick.
Monte Morris Moves From Dreary Detroit to Minnesota Timberwolves
Monte Morris, who started 61 games in the 2022-2023 season for the Washington Wizards, posting a career-high in points and assists, averaging 10.3 points and 5.3 assists per game last season, has had little playing time for the Detroit Pistons, with only six total games played for an average of 13 minutes per night. After missing the first 43 games to start the 2023-24 NBA season due to a right quad injury, Morris could not get a solid spot in the rotation for a 6-43 Pistons team trying to develop their young talent.
#NBA executive who knows new #Timberwolves guard Monte Morris well: "Great cat, a connector, will blend well. Big heart and big stones in tight games. Won't overstep his role." #RaisedbyWolves #Wolves pic.twitter.com/5NV9WZ2B5b
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) February 8, 2024
Luckily for the 28-year-old, Morris moves to Minnesota, where the Timberwolves are amid a franchise-altering season. The Timberwolves are off to one of the best starts to a season in franchise history. They are tied for first place in the Western Conference with a 35-16 record as they make the move for Morris. The Minnesota Timberwolves would have to go 24-7 the rest of the season to beat the franchise’s best record, 58-24, set by the 2002-2003 Timberwolves team led by Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett.
Minnesota Timberwolves Add Morris for Playoff Push
Much like the Garnett-led Timberwolves, Minnesota has found another superstar to lead their franchise after drafting Anthony Edwards with the first overall pick in 2020. The 4th year guard Anthony Edwards already has an impressive resume at only 22 years old. The two-time All-Star, along with leading the Minnesota Timberwolves to a record-breaking start of the season, has averaged a career-high in points and assists in his 48 games played this season with 25.9 points and 5.1 assists per game while getting his usual career averages of over five rebounds and an impressive 1.4 steals per game.
ANT MAKES IT LOOK EASY. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/fXuTpX9ql7
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) February 7, 2024
Though the season for Minnesota has gone better than expected, there is always room for improvement. Shams Charania reported that the Timberwolves pursued several point guards on the market over the last few months before landing on Monte Morris, a reliable, playoff-tested veteran. Both these attributes should significantly help the Timberwolves, who have lost four games when leading by 10-plus points in the fourth quarter. Morris has a ton of playoff experience, having played in 48 career playoff games, averaging 9.5 points, 3.5 assists, and 1.7 rebounds in his career with averages of 11.7 points, 4.7 assists, and 2.2 rebounds in 10 games as a starter for the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs. In the five-game Western Conference playoff series against the Warriors in 2022, Morris averaged 14 points, 5.4 assists, and 2.2 rebounds per game for the Nuggets.
My favorite Monte Morris stat: In the 2021-22 season, when Morris started 74 games in place of the injured Jamal Murray, Morris had the lowest turnover rate in the NBA amongst point guards who played over 1500 minutes (Mike Conley was 5th).
Some Morris highlights… pic.twitter.com/eRjyYiEQ9T
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) February 7, 2024
Do the Detroit Pistons Become Sellers?
Detroit doesn’t get much value back with just one second-round second-round pick, and both players they received have team options for next season. Still, it does at least get a little value for Morris, who will be a free agent after the season and wasn’t looking to continue playing with the Pistons. So far this season, Shake Milton played in 38 games for the Timberwolves, averaging 4.7 points on 40% shooting. At the same time, Troy Brown put up similar statistics, appearing in 37 games and averaging 4.2 points on 44% shooting. With the Detroit Pistons currently having one of the worst seasons in NBA history, it might make sense for the team to cut their losses and get back whatever value they can from veterans like Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, and Danilo Gallinari, who have all been in trade rumors before the February 8th trade deadline.
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