Marcus Morris’ Knicks Tenure Comes Full Circle

New York Knicks history forever changed on Feb. 6, 2020.

The obvious gift of hindsight notwithstanding, the first glance of the calendar seems to hint at hardly anything: the Knicks won their 16th game of the season with a 105-103 decision over the Orlando Magic.

Elfrid Payton was one assist short of a double-double while scoring 15 points, just behind 22 for Julius Randle, though it was far too late to land his first All-Star Game bid, the exhibition being only 10 days away. Elsewhere, Jalen Brunson, then a Dallas Maverick, prepared to do battle with the Washington Wizards the next day, facing former teammate Kristaps Porzingis in the nation’s capital.

Prior to their tip-off in Orlando, the Knicks’ Leon Rose-less front office made one of its final moves: fully embracing the arduous rebuild nature of the 2019-20 season, the Knicks traded leading scorer Marcus Morris to the Los Angeles Clippers in a multi-pronged deal that also enlisted the aforementioned Wizards.

Thus ended Morris’ brief yet productive tenure with the Knicks, one akin to a brilliant performance in an otherwise dreadful outing for the franchise (think Michael Fassbender in the doomed “Alien” prequel series). Morris wound up being the leading scorer for the Knicks during a shortened season, putting up 19.6 points a game before he was shipped out.

Over four years later, Morris is back, signed to an Exhibit 9 contract on Sunday as the latest former Phoenix Sun to don blue and orange. What hath Morris brought? Plenty, in fact.

In the trade, the Knicks received …

Again, at first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much obtained. Harkless, for example, played just 12 games for the Knicks before the COVID-19 shutdown and almost immediately moved on to Miami when he could. But a series of chain reactions set into motion some of the more significant acquisitions on the metropolitan ledgers.

The first true impacts of the Morris deal were felt on draft night in 2020: while mostly viewed as a disappointment due to the failed lottery selection of Obi Toppin, the Knicks have turned one of Rose’s first major undertakings into a slow and steady victory.

The red pick from Los Angeles eventually became a bridge to OG Anunoby: New York traded the Clippers’ pick (27th overall), along with their regularly scheduled second-rounder to Utah on draft night. Getting back the 23rd choice, they would select Leandro Bolmaro before trading the Argentinian to Minnesota in exchange for future French Olympic star Mathias Lessort and a second-round pick of Detroit’s, which became James Nnaji at No. 31.

That’s all to say that the deal netted Immanuel Quickley, the Bolmaro eventuality was a three-team spread that also involved Oklahoma City: the Thunder sent Quickley, the 25th overall choice, to complete the deal and he went on to defy expectations as a scintillating sixth man. Quickley, well, quickly proved himself worthy of NBA longevity … and eventually found it in Toronto.

Quickley signed a long-term deal months after he was involved in the December trade that allowed the Knicks to secure Anunoby’s services. To that end, one could argue that the Knicks were able to land Mikal Bridges as an aftershock: likewise acquired was Malachi Flynn, who later became part of last year’s Bojan Bogdanovic/Alec Burks gambit. While neither panned out, Bogdanovic was later included in the rare barter with the Nets that procured Bridges’ services.

The 2021 second-round choice also begot one of Morris’ new teammates, namely backup guard Quentin Grimes. Chosen 36th overall, McBride and summer star Rokas Jokubaitis came over when the Knicks made yet another deal with the Thunder: this time around, the Knicks hit pause on the idea of tipping off the Villanova era early, sending Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (No. 32) away for the other youngsters.

The 2021 portions of the trade were thus salvaged after the first-rounder in question, originally Detroit’s, did not convey for either coast. Burdened with protections. that choice eventually became top man Cade Cunningham.

Even Sannon, nary an NBA game to his name (often made to be one of the financially necessary “draft rights” pawns that get swapped during the selections, carried a bit of value: just over a week after the 2020 draft, his rights (and those of several others) went to Houston for Austin Rivers.

The veteran’s ultimate Knicks impact may be his potential for a very low Immaculate Grid score (he played just 21 games in Manhattan) but if Jericho Sims helps solve the team’s ongoing backup center issues, that could change: in yet another multi-team deal … one that somehow involved the Oklahoma City Thunder again … Rivers was sent to Oklahoma City while the Knicks obtained even more draft rights and another pick … the 58th choice later that year, which saw Sims called in Texas.

Six degrees of Marcus Morris doesn’t exactly have the same ring to it, but it’s certainly added a sense of sense of sizzle to the Knicks franchise that traditional namesake Kevin Bacon could never match.

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