Boston Celtics: What will happen to Marcus Morris
Marcus Morris will have a difficult time maintaining his role next season
When the injuries piled up last season, Marcus Morris stepped up as much as anyone else. His timely scoring was incredibly valuable, and a knack to get it done in the clutch made him one of the most important players on the team.
His ability to manufacture points in difficult situations was a unique trait coming off the bench, and the Celtics needed to have that bail out option at times. Morris may have been wild and inconsistent, but he knew his role and the Celtics needed him time and time again.
After the impact he had last season, you would think he has a good chance to have a solidified role this season, but that may not be the case. Even if Morris is able to eliminate some of the difficult shots, and play more efficiently, that alone will still not be enough to get minutes.
The Celtics are going to have one of the best collections of offensive talent next season, and they will have an incredibly deep rotation. You have to get through Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart before you can even talk about Morris.
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Best case scenario, Morris it the eight man in the rotation, and that will already be gutting his role from last season. Unfortunately, it might be even worse for Morris. The Celtics lack a lot of traditional size, and the Celtics are going to have much better options in small ball situations.
Right now, the Celtics will be able to use a defenisve specialist much more than an offensive specialist coming off the bench, and both Semi Ojeleye and Robert Williams will have significantly more potential on that end than Morris. Add on the idea of Aron Baynes potentially returning, and things get quite messy for Morris
Right now, not all hope is lost. Morris is still going to get a chance to earn his role, but it could be very fragile. There will be young players chasing his minutes, and inconsistency will not be tolerated. No matter how important his role was last season, it must be disregarded because of how different this team is going to look this coming season.
Morris is still a great depth guy to have, and can be a part of some deadly offensive lineups for the Celtics. The problem is that the Celtics will not be able to use his skills as much as they did last season, and there are too many options to just assume that Morris will be able to get consistent minutes next season.
Morris embraced Boston and the became a fan favorite. He knows that he must adapt his game if he wants to keep his role, but it is hard to tell if he is capable of that. Morris is a difficult shot hitter and is a great bail out option.
When you look at the talent on the Celtics, there is no reason for any player to have to take a difficult shot, and Morris would be far from a top option if the Celtics are looking for someone to bail them out.
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I would expect Morris to have some sort of role, especially early on in the season. As things go on, however, injuries may be the only way for Morris to establish any kind of consistent role next season.