Markieff Morris fined $10,000 for publicly demanding trade from Suns
Last month, Markieff Morris told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he was “not going to be there” — meaning, with the Phoenix Suns, the team with whom he signed a four-year, $32 million contract last summer — this coming season. “Not going to be there at all,” he said.
It’s not that Morris doesn’t intend to report for training camp or anything — “I will be a professional. Don’t get me wrong” — but rather that he doesn’t expect to be a member of the Suns organization come camp.
“It won’t get that far,” he said. “I’m going to be out before then, should be.”
“Should be” because, simply put, he doesn’t want to be. Not after Phoenix traded his twin brother, Marcus Morris, to the Detroit Pistons to open up cap space for an ultimately unsuccessful run at signing LaMarcus Aldridge — a move that led Markieff to express his displeasure by tweeting about this (presumably the big business of NBA roster management) being “a foul game here man!”
In considering Morris’ comments to Pompey — “It’s just when you get to a point in your life, you just need to move on. That’s what I need to do for my career, my family, myself. I just need to move on” — our Kelly Dwyer wrote, “You can be fined for merely saying ‘I demand a trade.'” It took a while, but the NBA finally decided to drop the hammer on the power forward on Tuesday, issuing a ruling and press release featuring two expensive sentences:
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Markieff Morris of the Phoenix Suns has been fined $10,000 for a public statement detrimental to the NBA, the league announced today. The statement concerned Morris’ desire to be traded by the Suns.
It’s curious, though: If Pompey’s interview with Morris was published August 13, then why did the NBA wait until September 8 to fine him? The answer, it seems, stems from Morris’ tweet about the situation last week:
That hashtag-bedecked missive spurred the league to take action, according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein:
Sources told ESPN.com that the decision to sanction Morris was clinched after a tweet last week stating that “my future is not in Phoenix.” […]
Since the 2005-06 season, public trade demands have been deemed by the league to be “statements detrimental to the NBA” and thus subject to fines. The first player to receive such a fine was Metta World Peace, then known as Ron Artest, for publicly requesting a trade from the Indiana Pacers.
Trade demands that are reported by the news media but not publicly stated by the player or his representatives — such as Goran Dragic’s camp privately asking for a trade in February and having that wish granted by the Suns days later — are not subject to league sanction.
The lesson: Never do publicly what’s less costly to do behind closed doors. Oh, and also, never tweet.
Markieff has only kinda-sorta learned that second one, it seems. His immediate reaction to news of his fining — which, pretty hilariously, he retweeted — was not only to hit Twitter, but to invoke everyone’s favorite 2020 presidential candidate in the process:
While I personally think the NBA should reduce Morris’ penalty by at least 50 percent for having the temerity to respond to a $10,000 bill with a Kanye shrug, evidently the 26-year-old forward thought better of that particular reply, quickly deleting the post.
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As it stands, the Suns reportedly have zero interest in moving Markieff, preferring to bide their time, hope cooler heads prevail in the weeks ahead, and proceed as planned by slotting him in as their starting power forward on opening night, lining up alongside free-agent signing Tyson Chandler, stalwart small forward P.J. Tucker and the Wildcat backcourt of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight for a Phoenix club aiming to bounce back from last year’s disappointing regression and return to the fight for one of the final playoff spots in the competitive Western Conference. The ball, as it was before the fine, would then seem to remain in Morris’ court.
He can continue to advocate for a trade that would seem unlikely, given both Suns GM Ryan McDonough’s reluctance to ship him out and the lack of leverage Phoenix would figure to have in negotiating with prospective suitors, who aren’t exactly going to be dangling first-round picks or rookie-contract stars knowing how badly Keef wants out. He can try to work toward a buyout agreement with the Suns that would allow him to formally display his loyalty to his aggrieved brother and free him up to pursue other options, but that you’d expect would pay him significantly less than the $8 million he’s owed this year and the $32 million he’s got coming over the next four. Or he can stay put, make every cent owed to him, showcase his talents while working to put all that’s transpired in the past six months behind him.
The options are the same; the only difference is that Markieff’s wallet is now 10 stacks lighter. Whether this particular game of chicken will continue into the start of camp, where the financial penalty for “not being there” will become an awful lot stiffer, remains to be seen.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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