Jaylen Morris – 2018-19 G-League Player Profile

June 20th, 2019

Jaylen Morris

SG – 6’5, 185lbs – Born 19th September 1995

   Erie BayHawks   

Morris played his way into the NBA last season in his first professional campaign out of Division II Molloy, signing two 10-day contracts and then a minimum salary deal for the remainder of the season with the Atlanta Hawks. Although they ended it at the start of last offseason, he quickly received a two-way with the Milwaukee Bucks; after that was ended in January, Morris was picked back up by Erie to finish the season, and therefore now has two years of NBA experience. That is quite a lot for a G-League player.

What gets Morris into the league in this way is his perceived defensive potential. A rotator and keen help player, Morris has decent size and athleticism for the wing, and uses that to try and apply pressure on the unglamorous end. He overhelped quite a bit this season, perhaps overly trying to impress in that role, yet on the flip side, he also was a transition beast this year. Lacking the ability to break down a defence or create much via the slashing game in the half-court, Morris instead ran out at every opportunity. He is not the best three-point shooter and nor does he get to the foul line much, but a steady diet of driving lay-ups made him a two-way player of some worth.

Morris does not have the top tier athleticism, and the muscle that he has added to his frame only slightly compensates for it. Given that he also does not have the highest skill level, it will be difficult for him to convert this two-year career in the NBA into a regular spot, unless he can somehow start making more shots. And I don’t mean floaters off curls; I mean floor spacing stuff. To have made it in for two seasons from Division II is a significant achievement, however marginal those two gigs were. There are better candidates for the third year, though, unless Morris comes back from this summer with a little extra.

– 20th June, 2019

• This above is extracted from the following page in the The Basketball Manifesto, an entirely free 3,775 page, 1.2 million word-ish basketball reference book which contains reviews, strategies, ideas, opinions, and a whole lot of scouting on men’s world basketball.

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