NBA
Knicks Named Landing Spot for Timberwolves PG
The New York Knicks will be scouting potential free agents over the next few weeks ahead of the start of official negotiations on June 30 at 6 p.m. ET.
Among the players they could look to target is Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Monte Morris, according to The Athletic’s Fred Katz.
“Morris began this past season hurt and never caught a rhythm. Any team that targets him will hope for the reliable, everyday guard he turned into with the Denver Nuggets and later with the Wizards. He’s 28 and only one year removed from being the personification of consistency,” Katz writes. “Like Jones, Morris is an assist-to-turnover savant. He’s come off the bench for successful teams, can run an offense and could even run alongside Brunson. Because he’s coming off a down season, he would not cost as much as Jones would, either.”
Morris, who turns 29 later this month, emerged as a strong point guard in his first five years with the Nuggets, but he’s lost his way as he’s been traded around the league over the past two years. He was dealt to the Wizards in 2022 for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope the year before the Nuggets won the NBA Finals last summer. In 2023, he went to the Detroit Pistons, who had an ugly start to the season.
A midseason trade to the Timberwolves gave Morris a chance to contend once again, but Minnesota fell in the Western Conference Finals to the Dallas Mavericks in five games. Morris only played 27 games for the Wolves and he was unable to crack a significant role in Minnesota’s rotation for the playoffs.
If he were to come to the Knicks, Morris could be a low-risk, high-reward option at the point guard spot. While he has struggled with fit and injuries over the past two seasons, the Knicks could be a good fit for him leading the second unit.
Having a veteran pace in the second unit is important for the Knicks, and a marriage between the two sides could not only help New York’s bench but also revive Morris’s career in the process.