Marcus Morris on his role with Celtics: 'I have to be the bully'

The Celtics practiced at full strength for the first time all preseason on Thursday as Marcus Morris joined the team following his acquittal on aggravated assault charges on Tuesday in Arizona.

"It's a big relief," Morris said of being done with the trial. "For a second I felt like it was kind of killing my character for a lot of people that don't know me. So just to get acquitted of everything and now be a Boston Celtic, that's all I'm looking forward to."

The Celtics kept close tabs on the 6-foot-9 forward during time away from the team throughout training camp. Stevens sent multiple coaches out west to put Morris through daily morning workouts as the proceedings played out, but that didn't make the trial experience any easier for the former Piston.

“It was very difficult," Morris said of missing the first week of training camp. "I love playing basketball. Just for me to be coming to a new place and not being able to be there, one of the first guys there, just learning everybody. It’s a little tough but that’s behind me. I’m ready to play. I’m ready to get going.”

The question now for the 28-year-old veteran is just how exactly he fits into Brad Stevens' plans. He'll be in action for Friday's preseason contest in Philadelphia as the head coach tries to piece together the best way to utilize him in an already deep wing/stretch forward rotation.

"He’ll play," Stevens said. "I’ll see how he feels. This was his first practice. It was a hard practice. He also came in at nine in the morning and went through a series of drills with our younger, younger players. He had a good day. We’ll see how he feels, but he’ll play tomorrow."

"He played a large amount at the 3 in Detroit," Stevens added. "He'll play a much bigger amount at the 4 for us. All those guys are interchangeable. We play the same way anyways. We can use all those strengths and skills he used as a 3. He'll probably be guarded by bigger guys, so he'll have to use his quickness advantage on the perimeter some."

With the Celtics looking to start small more this season in the frontcourt, Morris is eager to provide more a physical presence alongside Al Horford.

"Competing against these guys over the years, I think they know what I can do," he said. "I know what they can do. I think it'll be really easy for me to fit in. I gotta be the tough guy on the team. I gotta be the protector. Guys, you know, knocking my guys down, I can't have that. You know what I'm saying? It's going to be my role to be the bully. And I accept that."

That type of attitude created an upbeat attitude around practice on Thursday among Boston's younger players.

"It's great," Jaylen Brown said of Morris being back in Boston. "I'm glad he's back with us, now it's time to get going. He's tough, plays the game the right way, can score the ball. I like his energy. I had to guard him a little bit (last year). 3/4 matchup. He can put the ball on the floor. He can really score and can shoot it. He's a good addition to the team. A great piece to the puzzle."

With Morris back in the fold, nine Celtics would appear to have a firm grasp on a rotation spot for the time being (Irving, Brown, Hayward, Horford, Baynes, Morris, Smart, Tatum, Rozier).