Marcus Morris opens up to BSJ on potential starting role

Marcus Morris made no secret of his desire to start at power forward for the Celtics during training camp last month. The veteran was the starting small forward for the past couple seasons in Detroit, and a similarly large role was expected to be waiting for him at the four spot in Boston after he was acquired for Avery Bradley in July.

"I feel like it's going to be really easy," Morris said back in October. "I don't think I can name two or three 4-men that can really do anything with me on the floor, you know what I mean? They might be a little bit bigger so I'm just trying to keep my strength and be a great rebounder. But on the offensive side, it will be too easy."

Things have changed quite a bit though in the few weeks that Morris was sidelined with a knee injury prior to his return to action on Friday night in Oklahoma City. Rookie Jayson Tatum has quickly morphed into one of Brad Stevens’ most dependable options at the forward spot in his first nine NBA games. With Tatum playing the 3, the Celtics have solidified their back line with Aron Baynes at the center spot and Al Horford at the 4 with the starters, which has helped stabilize the team’s defense and rebounding during Boston’s seven-game winning streak.

Morris expects to be on a minutes restriction for the next couple games as he eases back into action following a left knee injury and he won’t play both ends of a back-to-back on Sunday and Monday. That limitation has made it a relatively easy decision for Brad Stevens to bring him off the bench for the time being. With the C’s rolling though, the question will soon need to be answered as Morris returns to full strength: Should he be a regular part of the starting five in place of Baynes or Tatum?

When the time comes, the 28-year-old forward told BostonSportsJournal.com he is on board with whatever decision Stevens makes.  

“We've been playing really well so, as a player, I want that to continue to happen,” Morris said. “I want those guys to continue to build their chemistry and continue to go forward. Starting is not on my mind right now but down the road, it's a strong possibility.”

As we saw on Friday night when Stevens inserted Morris into the starting five for the second half of the Thunder matchup, the wait might not be very long for Morris to get back into the fold with the first unit. With Tatum playing so well at small forward, it’s becoming clear already that if a change is made in the starting five, it won’t come at the expense of the rookie. Morris is much more likely to push Baynes back to the bench, which would slide Horford to the center spot.

The possibility of Tatum and Morris starting together wasn’t even on the radar before the season began, but after Gordon Hayward went down, the versatility of the two wings created some enticing possibilities for Boston. Morris is one guy who is already excited about what the duo could do together.

“(We could do) everything,” he said of potentially starting with Tatum. “Switch. Score. Length would be really good. I think it would be really easy for us to be on the court at the same time, work together and switch. It could be really good for us.”

Stevens also hinted to the BostonSportsJournal.com that the pair will be starting together down the line.

“Oh yeah. I would assume that they'll end up playing a lot together,” he said. “Jayson has played the 3 for us most of the year. Marcus has played the 3 or 4 his whole career. He could play either/or, Jayson can play either/or. With the way we're trying to play obviously with a bunch of wings out on the floor with usually a big and a ball handling point guard, he fits right into that.”

There will be nights when the Celtics face a pair of rebounding big men in the frontcourt and a big body like Aron Baynes will get the nod for matchup purposes. However, as the team finds a regular rotation with a clean slate of health (beyond Hayward) in the days to come, it’s evident what Stevens is prioritizing for his team on a nightly basis.

“I think one of the things we need to do is continue to be versatile on offense and defense,” he explained. “One of the things that we've tried to do since Gordon has been out, is post up our wings a little more. Usually, we'll have one you can post based on matchups and Marcus is another guy you can throw the ball to in the post. That gets into some of our other cutting actions that we want to get into. Defensively, having more guys that can switch, the better.”

With a premium placed on versatility, the Celtics are set to become a potential matchup nightmare for opponents with Morris and Tatum teaming up on a nightly basis.