Marcus Morris would look right at home with the Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers don’t have a true power forward on their roster.

At full strength, the vast majority of the team’s small forward minutes are divvied up pretty evenly between Danny Green and Matisse Thybulle, both of whom stand 6-foot-5 and weigh in at less than 210 pounds. Heading into the season, this was a pretty solid plan, as the Sixers expected to have a 6-foot-10 unicorn running the point, but unfortunately, the team’s plans changed faster than their roster, and the Sixers now find themselves trapped playing three guard-sized guards more often than not and have struggled with rebounding as a result.

How bad are we talking? Well, let’s just say of the four players who record at least 48 percent of their minutes at the three – Thybulle, Green, Charlie Brown Jr., and Furkan Korkmaz – none average more than 3.3 rebounds per game, which *spoiler alert* isn’t very many.

Needless to say, if the Philadelphia 76ers aren’t going to make the sort of deal that resets the roster at the deadline, they should at least try to find an upgrade on the wings, specifically at small forward, who can help their rebounding, size, and shooting without sacrificing too much on the defensive end of the court.

Fortunately, there is a player who fits that bill, and he just so happens to have grown up a Philadelphia Eagles fan.

The Philadelphia 76ers could bring Marcus Morris home.

If you’ve spent any time in the greater Philadelphia sports marketplace, from Harrisburg to Asbury Park, Scranton to Wilmington, and anywhere in between, you know at least someone who inexplicably grew up a Dallas Cowboys fan.

9th Street Italian Market? Cowboys jersey. Chestnut Street in Lancaster? Cowboys flags. Public House 46 in Clifton is a Cowboys bar, and on very rare occasions, you’ll see a Twitter bio with some combination of ‘Flyers-Sixers-Cowboys-Yankees’ just for the heck of it.

Now imagine growing up with a brother who is one of those Philadelphia-born Cowboys fans? Imagine still you both developed into NBA fans and took that sibling rivalry to the professional ranks of the NBA?

That, my friends, is the plight of Marcus Morris. The “better” of the Morris twins in terms of NBA production, Marcus is a certified member of Eagles Nation and was almost suspended (in jest) for partaking in an Eagles chant while a member of the Boston Celtics.

Why, you may ask, is this relevant to the Philadelphia 76ers? Well, because Morris might just be on the block depending on who you ask and would look good cashing in his Los Angeles Clippers red, white, and blue for Sixers… red, white, and blue.

According to Jack Fischer of Bleacher Report, the Clippers are beginning to view the 2021-22 season as a gap year dedicated to developing young players like Terrance Mann and that they may be willing to get off of some veteran dollars to further reload in 2022-23 when Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are expected to be fully healthy. Of the players on the block, Morris is easily the most valuable and could be viewed as more than a simple rental since he is under contract through the 2023-24 season.

Measuring in at 6-foot-8, 218 pounds, Morris is a big, tough dude who averaged 15.3 points and 4.6 rebounds in 29.2 minutes of action over the past three seasons split between the Los Angeles Clippers and the New York Knicks. He’s a willing offensive rebounder, a good free-throw shooter, and one of the best 3 point shooting forwards in the NBA, as he’s made 331 of his last 777 attempts for a very impressive shooting percentage of 42.6. Of his 5.3 attempts from beyond the arc per game, 78.1 percent are of the catch-and-shoot variety, and from the wings, he ranks sixth on the Clippers at a very impressive shooting percentage of 43.8.

Whether lined up at small or power forward, Morris is a capable two-way player who can be on the court at any time alongside any lineup and remain incredibly successful, even if he’s not quite fast enough to rim run at the tender age of 32.

On the Sixers, Morris would check a variety of different boxes. He could start at small forward in place of Danny Green – who would almost surely have to be traded to facilitate a deal – play the four in defense-focused lineups alongside Matisse Thybulle, or pair up with Georges Niang to form the best pure shooting frontcourt of Joel Embiid’s six-year career.

Even if Morris’ defense doesn’t quite rise to the level of Green’s, he’s s a capable two-way player who adds more than he subtracts, especially since Green just can’t seem to stay healthy.

Marcus Morris is a classic NBA glue guy. Whether on a roster with two elite wings or a team overachieving based on the MVP-level production of their do-it-all center, Morris makes the players around him better by filling in the gaps in his teammates’ game. Is his production, with two more full years left on his contract, worth a first-round pick, which is what the Los Angeles Clippers initially acquired Morris for back in 2020? Or would the team instead like a young player like Jaden Springer, who is currently tearing it up in the G-League, alongside some twos and Danny Green, who could be a good fit if reunited with Kawhi Leonard this fall? Either way, this is a potential deal worth watching, especially since the Philadelphia Eagles’ season is over.