June 29, 2018

Monte Morris
PG - 6’3, 175lbs - 23 years old - 1 year of experience

A second round pick last summer, Morris was under contract to the Nuggets for the whole season, and yet still played only all of 25 minutes for them, which is not bad going. He instead spent the majority of the season on flex assignment with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, for whom he averaged 17.9 points, 6.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 2.0 turnovers per game in 34.2 minutes of 39 contests.

That assist to turnover ratio is not quite the stuff-of-legend calibre that he was putting up at Iowa State. It is not far short, though, and it must be noted that at various times during the season, Morris had to share the point guard spot with fellow NBA players Briante Weber and Demetrius Jackson, which even gave him some run off the ball at shooting guard, a new thing for him. All told, then, Morris had a pretty successful run in the G-League this season. The question is whether he can convert that into NBA play and make a run at the open backup Nuggets point guard spot.

Big enough and with good anticipation skills, Morris should survive as an NBA defender. He is not especially quick, nor strong, but he will not need to be either if he can read the plays well and get to the spot first. The same is true offensively; he will not explosively break down a defence and finish or kick much, but if he hits rollers, hits cutters, moves the ball around, feeds the posts and hits open shots, he could cut it for a while.

The last of those is the key one. Morris hit only 33.9% from three-point range in the G-League, and they were generally not contested. Another year of working on that, then, and we’ll know.

Player Plan: Has another year on the two-way deal. Leave him on it.

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