Report: Cavs ‘highly interested’ in bringing back Marcus Morris, could make him flashy offer

A recent report indicates that the Cleveland Cavaliers could still retain forward Marcus Morris, who is currently a free agent after spending part of the 2023-24 campaign in Cleveland.

“According to sources, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Hornets, Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, and Minnesota Timberwolves have shown interest,” Keith Pompey wrote. “The Dallas Mavericks were interested before making roster moves.

“For Morris’ comfort level, the [Philadelphia] Sixers and Cavs appear to have the best chances to land him. After being bought out by the [San Antonio] Spurs, Morris signed with Cleveland in March. He fit in nicely and was one of their best players in the postseason.

“The Sixers only have a one-year veteran-minimum salary of $3.3 million available to offer him. Sources say the Cavs, who are highly interested, are prepared to give Morris nearly double that amount. Despite that, Morris can still see himself coming back to the Sixers.”

Morris played in only 12 of the Cavaliers’ 82 regular-season games and averaged 5.8 points per contest on 44.1 percent shooting from the field and 41.4 percent shooting from deep along with 2.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists per contest.

Interestingly, there’s an argument to be made that Morris’ best regular-season performance as a Cavalier came in his debut with the team. Shortly after joining the Cavaliers, Morris played in a matchup against the Indiana Pacers on March 18 and totaled 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range off the Cleveland bench.

Morris reached double digits in scoring just one more time during the remainder of the regular season. He finished with 11 points while converting four of his 10 shots from the floor in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 22.

While Morris’ best regular-season game as a Cavalier came against the Pacers, he saved his best showing with the team for the 2024 NBA Playoffs. With Cleveland’s season on the line in Game 5 of the team’s second-round series against the Boston Celtics, Morris provided the Cavaliers with a huge scoring boost off the bench.

He totaled 25 points and converted all but three of his 13 shot attempts from the floor. Morris also knocked down five 3-pointers and finished with the second-most points of any player on the Cavaliers behind Evan Mobley in Game 5.

However, Morris’ scoring outburst wasn’t enough to keep the Cavaliers’ season alive. Behind impressive two-way showings from Al Horford and Jayson Tatum, Boston won the game in question by 15 points and eliminated Cleveland from the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

Morris’ Game 5 showing suggests that he still has the ability to score points in bunches. Hence, it would make sense for the Cavaliers to re-sign him prior to the start of the 2024-25 campaign.