<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/suns-news-monte-morris-teases-friendly-feud-devin-booker');   ga('set', 'title', 'Suns’ Monte Morris teases friendly feud with Devin Booker');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Monte-Morris-teases-friendly-feud-with-Devin-Booker.jpg"></figure><h1>Suns’ Monte Morris teases friendly feud with Devin Booker</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-11T11:20:15-07:00">October 11th, 11:20am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-11T11:20:15-07:00">October 11th, 11:20am</time><address><a href="https://haydencilley.wixsite.com/hayden-cilley-s-port">Hayden Cilley</a>Hayden Cilley joined ClutchPoints in August 2024 as a Phoenix Suns and Mercury reporter, as well as an Associate Editor. Hayden graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University while covering events like the 2023 NCAA Men's Final Four, the 2024 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and the Arizona State men's swim and dive team. He recently covered the Phoenix Mercury for The Next Hoops and PHNX Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>When the Phoenix Suns <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-add-backcourt-depth-behind-booker-sign-monte-morris">added more depth with Monte Morris</a> signing in free agency, it reignited a friendly rivalry between him and Devin Booker. During Thursday’s shootaround, Morris explained to reporters that if there was any trash talk about the previous two playoff series he and Booker played against each other.</p><p>“I left that in 2021… that wasn’t too good,” Morris said, chuckling. “I can’t even talk about that. It’s all fun and games. When I first got here, we brought it up, bickering back and forth but he was like, ‘Yeah, we swept y’all,’ and I’m like, ‘We slept y’all last year too.’ We go back and forth, but it’s love to be on the same side.”</p><p>In 2021, the Suns eliminated the Denver Nuggets with a 4-0 series sweep. In that series, Booker averaged <a href="https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/devin-booker-stats-vs-nuggets-playoffs-2021" rel="noopener">25.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 4.5 assists</a> in four games. On the flip side, Morris averaged <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2021-nba-western-conference-semifinals-nuggets-vs-suns.html" rel="noopener">11.3 points, 1.5 rebounds, and five assists</a> while only starting in one game.</p><h2>Monte Morris got his revenge on Devin Booker and the Suns</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Suns-Monte-Morris-teases-friendly-feud-with-Devin-Booker-1.jpg"><figcaption>© Brad Rempel-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Fast forward three years, it was the inverse. Morris joined the Minnesota Timberwolves and faced the Suns in the first round. This time, Morris and his squad had the upper hand on his current team. Booker still played great, averaging <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2024-nba-western-conference-first-round-suns-vs-timberwolves.html" rel="noopener">27.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and six assists</a> while playing 41.5 minutes per game. Despite the superstar performance, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-most-to-blame-for-embarrassing-playoff-sweep-at-hands-of-timberwolves">Suns were ultimately swept</a>.</p><p>Morris didn’t see much playing time like he did in 2021, as he only played 9.7 minutes per game. Regardless, the Timberwolves advanced to the Western Conference Finals where they were knocked out by the Dallas Mavericks. Uncertainty loomed large as the Suns Big 3 seemed to take down any possible team. However, signing Morris and also <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-tyus-jones-major-factor-join-suns">acquiring Tyus Jones</a> helps with having the offense run smoothly.</p><p>As Morris reflected on that series and playing against Booker, he’s glad they’re joining forces and not going against each other.</p><p>“He’s just a competitor, bro,” Morris said. “Book is a guy who always wants to win. He’s chippy, he talked trash and he backed it up. I’m just happy I’m on his side with him this time.”</p><p>The Suns are set to take on the Detroit Pistons on Friday, after facing off on Tuesday. In that game, Morris made his impact with the second unit. He and rookie Oso Ighodaro dominated the pick-and-roll all game long. Also, Morris had some time running the floor with Booker. That sight is one that Suns fans can look to enjoy more of throughout the preseason and into the regular season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Suns’ Monte Morris teases friendly feud with Devin Booker

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mike-conley-details-monte-morris-trade-changes-timberwolves-offense-better');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mike Conley details how Monte Morris trade changes Timberwolves offense for the better');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Mike_Conley_details_how_Monte_Morris_trade_acquisition_changes_Timberwolves_offense_for_the_better.webp"></figure><h1>Mike Conley details how Monte Morris trade changes Timberwolves offense for the better</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-02-26T17:09:36-08:00">February 26th, 5:09pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-02-26T17:09:36-08:00">February 26th, 5:09pm</time><address><a>Sheldon Wohlman</a>Sheldon Wohlman is in his first season as a reporter covering the Minnesota Timberwolves for ClutchPoints. Sheldon eats, sleeps and breathes basketball as he coaches, enjoys playing basketball and covers the NBA on YouTube and Twitter.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Minnesota Timberwolves went into the 2024 NBA trade deadline with the intention of improving an already great roster. By agreeing to a deal with the Detroit Pistons to acquire guard Monte Morris, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-monte-morris-pistons-trade" rel="noopener">the Timberwolves added a dose</a> of extra playmaking and shooting on the perimeter.</p><p>After his first three games with the team, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grading-timberwolves-pistons-monte-morris-trade" rel="noopener">Morris was able to</a> ramp up his conditioning and further adjust to playing in Minnesota during the All-Star break. After five games with the team, now is a good time to evaluate the early returns on Morris’ play thus far.</p><h2>Monte Morris’ immediate impact</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Timberwolves_Monte_Morris.webp"><figcaption>Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>In his first five games with the Timberwolves, Morris’ minutes have varied quite a bit. The veteran guard logged 18 minutes in his first game with the team and scored five points to go along with two rebounds and two assists. Morris played just 12 minutes in his next contest and shot 0-3 from the field on the second night of a back-to-back. In the final game before the All-Star break, Morris had his best game with the Wolves so far.</p><p>His third game with the team resulted in an impressive 5-8 shooting night as he scored 12 points in just 15 minutes of play. Morris asserted himself into the game with good scoring aggression, something coach Chris Finch has said Minnesota will need from him. Despite getting some time off with the break, Morris’ in-game impact has been mild so far.</p><p>Over his past two games, Morris has scored a total of 10 points and dished out five assists in that stretch. In his first five games, Morris is averaging 5.4 points, 2.4 assists while shooting 44.0% from the floor. Despite small counting stats, the Wolves have gotten key contributions from Morris at times. Most specifically, Morris played a pivotal stretch in a near-comeback against the Milwaukee Bucks.</p><h2>The Monte Morris and Mike Conley duo</h2><p>Behind that excellent start to the fourth quarter was the combination of Morris and Mike Conley. The Wolves’ two point guards are both smaller than the NBA standard, but that hasn’t stopped coach Finch from playing them together. Despite mixed results so far, the combination breeds some strong positives that Minnesota needs.</p><p>First of all, having two trustworthy playmakers on the court is a huge benefit for Minnesota. This season, the Timberwolves average the sixth most turnovers in the league, but the infusion of Morris and Conley together will likely limit the giveaways. In addition to improved ball security, Minnesota will likely find an infusion of pace into their offense.</p><p>Two guards capable of pushing the tempo gives their transition offense a few added boosts. First of all, the Wolves will be able to outlet the ball quicker having two outlet options. Following these outlets, the Wolves now have two guards who get on and off the ball quickly.</p><p>When the Minnesota’s offense struggles, typically the ball stops moving. With two playmaking guards sharing the court, it’s much less likely we see the offense turn to a stand-still isolation attack.</p><h2>Conley shares his confidence in Morris</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Timberwolves_Mike_Conley.webp"><figcaption>Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Adding Morris to the roster has given Conley and the rest of an offense a boost. The fellow point guard <a href="https://twitter.com/3swohlman/status/1761273238586343835" rel="noopener">is comfortable playing</a> next to the trade acquisition and is confident in Morris’ success, he told ClutchPoints.</p><p>“Between Monte and [Jordan McLaughlin], when we have multiple playmakers, point guards out there, we start, just running and pushing the ball,” Conley said. “As a point guard, you love that. You’ve got other guys who can do what you do, see what you see.”</p><p>In addition to having another player who can run the show, Conley also sees the benefit of the two guards sharing the court.</p><p>“When we’ve got that group out there, we’re just trying to be a team that plays with pace, plays off each other,” Conley continued. “Having Monte, who can pretty much do anything on the court, we’re going to have plenty of runs that get us back in games or push the lead.”</p><p>With Minnesota in contention for the one seed in the Western Conference, Finch will be able to go to Morris as a spark-plug off the bench who is capable of knocking down shots and initiating their offense. The more ball-handlers the better come playoff time.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mike Conley details how Monte Morris trade changes Timberwolves offense for the better

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/grading-timberwolves-pistons-monte-morris-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'Grading Timberwolves-Pistons Monte Morris trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Grading_Timberwolves-Pistons_Monte_Morris_trade.webp"></figure><h1>Grading Timberwolves-Pistons Monte Morris trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-02-07T15:24:12-08:00">February 7th, 3:24pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-02-07T16:01:01-08:00">February 7th, 4:01pm</time><address><a>Jack Winter</a>Jack Winter is a veteran NBA writer and editor based on the West Coast. He currently lives in Oakland, covering the last legs of the Golden State Warriors' dynasty.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Minnesota Timberwolves fortified their ball-handling depth for the season’s stretch run and the Detroit Pistons received draft capital for a veteran who’s not in the team’s long-term plans and is set to become a free agent this summer. Win-win, right?</p><p>Let’s dive into grades for the deal that sent <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-monte-morris-pistons-trade" rel="noopener">Monte Morris from Detroit to Minnesota</a> in exchange for a 2030 second-round pick, Shake Milton and Troy Brown on the eve of the 2024 NBA trade deadline.</p><h2><b>Grading Pistons</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/6-monty-williams-claims-pistons-are-close-to-winning-lots-of-games-so-when-will-they-actually-win.webp"></figure><p>Acquired over the offseason <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/wizards-news-washington-pulls-off-monte-morris-pistons-trade-after-kyle-kuzma-deal" rel="noopener">from the Washington Wizards</a> for a 2027 second-round pick, Monte Morris was supposed to be an on- and off-court linchpin for the young Pistons in 2023-24 as they took the first step toward respectability under first-year coach Monty Williams. A right-quad injury that caused him to miss the first 43 games of the season never gave Morris the opportunity to find his footing in Detroit. Given the team’s historically putrid start, it’s clear he was never going to be able to provide that type of value for the Pistons in the first place.</p><p>Morris made his season debut on Jan. 24. He played in six games with Detroit, averaging 4.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 11.4 minutes off the bench while shooting 36.4 percent overall and going 2-of-11 from beyond the arc.</p><p>An impending free agent, the Pistons’ lack of growth coupled with the team prioritizing the development of Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and rookie Marcus Sasser provided writing on the wall for Morris’ plans come July. Cunningham is still earmarked as Detroit’s primary creator of the present and future for now, while both Ivey and Sasser—particularly the former since Williams <i>finally</i> decided to give him more on-ball reps—have shown recent flashes of being able to run the show offensively with or without Cunningham next to them.</p><p>Morris was an obvious trade candidate for Detroit even if there was one year left on his deal. That he’s playing on an expiring contract only made moving Morris at the deadline an even easier decision for Troy Weaver and the front office, especially because Minnesota stands to be a <i>much </i>different team when that second-rounder conveys in 2030 and both Milton and Brown are playing on nonguaranteed contracts next season.</p><p>The problem here isn’t what the Pistons got in return for Morris but the naive initial notion he’d be able to help them level up this season. Even if that Timberwolves second-rounder lands in the early 30s, Detroit would no doubt have been better off simply keeping their own 2027 second-rounder.</p><p><b>Detroit grade: C+</b></p><h2><b>Grading Timberwolves</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/timberwolves-news-minnesota-finalizing-monte-morris-trade-with-pistons.webp"></figure><p>Minnesota’s hole at backup point guard might have been the deepest one likely to be filled by a top-tier contender at the trade deadline. Monte Morris isn’t Minneapolis native Tyus Jones, a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-early-2024-nba-trade-deadline-predictions" rel="noopener">rumored target of the Wolves</a> quietly playing the best ball of his career this season with the Washington Wizards. Considering Minnesota couldn’t meet Washington’s outsized asking price for Jones, though, nabbing Morris for a second-round pick some six years away is probably the best consolation prize Tim Connelly and company could’ve mustered before Thursday afternoon.</p><p>Mike Conley has been a bellwether for the Wolves since he arrived at last year’s trade deadline. They’re 2-3 without him in the lineup this season, two of those losses coming to the lowly San Antonio Spurs and Charlotte Hornets. Minnesota, unsurprisingly, has been especially anemic offensively when both Conley and budding superstar Anthony Edwards are on the bench, managing a paltry <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612750&amp;Season=2023-24&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=201144,1630162" rel="noopener">103.9 offensive rating</a>, per pbpstats.com.</p><p>Conley will play the lion’s share of postseason minutes at point guard, obviously, but he’s an ever-imminent health risk at 36 years old. Morris’ steady table-setting hand—he’s long been one of the most turnover-averse players in basketball—is an upgrade on reserve point guard Jordan McLaughlin and could be a sizable one if he reverts back to the above-average long-range shooting he enjoyed before getting shipped to Detroit. This deal could still be a win for the Wolves even if Conley remains healthy over the remainder of the regular season and into the playoffs, relegating Morris solely to backup minutes.</p><p>But the scenarios it could really make a difference involve Conley missing time over the next few months or being forced to bail on Minnesota in free agency this summer, when the team’s harsh second-apron realities will come into focus. Morris isn’t the Wolves’ long-term answer at point guard next to Edwards but could at least be an effective stopgap for 2024-25, assuming he comes tens of millions cheaper than Conley on the open market.</p><p>Moving off yet another future draft pick, even a second-rounder, was no doubt a tough pill for Minnesota’s front office to swallow. But the chance of Morris helping the Wolves on their quest for a title this season <i>and </i>potentially filling their need for a cheap option at point guard going forward makes that sacrifice well worth it.</p><p><b>Minnesota grade: B+</b></p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Grading Timberwolves-Pistons Monte Morris trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/timberwolves-news-monte-morris-pistons-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'Timberwolves finalizing Monte Morris trade with Pistons');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/timberwolves-news-minnesota-finalizing-monte-morris-trade-with-pistons.webp"></figure><h1>Timberwolves finalizing Monte Morris trade with Pistons</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-02-07T13:55:17-08:00">February 7th, 1:55pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-02-07T14:22:01-08:00">February 7th, 2:22pm</time><address><a>Brett Siegel</a>Brett Siegel joined ClutchPoints as a credentialed NBA insider and reporter in May 2023 after previously covering the NBA for Fastbreak on FanNation and NBA Analysis Network, as well as working with Louisville Basketball. From playing to coaching to covering the game as a media member, Brett has been involved with the game of basketball from many different perspectives. Breaking the news of various free agent signings, yearly NBA Draft news and other key stories around the league, Brett is always on the phone, getting the latest news and rumors around the NBA. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @BrettSiegelNBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons are working towards <a href="https://x.com/ShamsCharania/status/1755343255141523848?s=20" rel="noopener">finalizing</a> a trade that would send veteran point guard Monte Morris to the Timberwolves, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Shake Milton, Troy Brown Jr., and a second-round pick appear to be en route to Detroit as part of this trade. The <a href="https://x.com/wojespn/status/1755346758572323221?s=20" rel="noopener">second-round pick</a> going to Detroit is in 2030, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">🚨 The Pistons are finalizing a deal to send Monte Morris to the Timberwolves, per <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ShamsCharania</a>. <a href="https://t.co/6ygwwZLcH4">pic.twitter.com/6ygwwZLcH4</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1755344006077100110?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Morris, 28, had emerged as a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-pistons-monte-morris-trade-interest-timberwolves" rel="noopener">serious trade option</a> for the Timberwolves in recent days due to the team’s need to find reliable play behind Mike Conley Jr. Currently 35-16 on the season, Minnesota finds themselves in a four-way tie for first place in the Western Conference.</p><p>Both Milton and Brown had become afterthoughts for the Timberwolves after the team signed them this offseason. Due to their contending status in the West, Minnesota has decided to dump these contracts in favor of a contributing veteran, whose salary will provide financial relief in the offseason.</p><p>Recently making his debut in a Pistons uniform after missing the first three months of the 2023-24 season due to a right quadriceps injury, Morris now heads to a playoff-caliber team before hitting unrestricted free agency in the summer.</p><p>In the six games he has played in Detroit, Morris has averaged 4.5 points and 2.0 rebounds while shooting 46.4 percent from the floor. Morris has always been known for his reliable play at the point guard position, as he has posted a career 4.9-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Over the span of his seven seasons in the NBA, the veteran guard has averaged 10.4 points and 4.0 assists per game.</p><p>For the Pistons, Morris was expected to be moved before the trade deadline due to the fact that he is on an expiring $9.8 million contract. This trade comes just hours after Detroit <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pistons-acquire-simone-fontecchio-from-jazz-nba-trade-deadline" rel="noopener">acquired Simone Fontecchio</a> from the Utah Jazz. With Morris gone, the Pistons have opened up more minutes for their young backcourt, consisting of Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, and rookie Marcus Sasser.</p><p>A total of 16 players now reside on the Pistons’ roster after acquiring Milton and Brown for Morris, likely signaling further moves coming from Detroit ahead of the NBA trade deadline on Thursday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Timberwolves finalizing Monte Morris trade with Pistons

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-pistons-monte-morris-trade-interest-timberwolves');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Pistons’ Monte Morris drawing serious trade interest from Timberwolves');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/NBA_rumors_Pistons__Monte_Morris_drawing_serious_trade_interest_from_Timberwolves.webp"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Pistons’ Monte Morris drawing serious trade interest from Timberwolves</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-02-05T07:42:41-08:00">February 5th, 7:42am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-02-05T15:46:02-08:00">February 5th, 3:46pm</time><address><a>Matt Wadleigh</a>Matthew Wadleigh was born and raised in Oceanside and resides in Fresno. He lives with his wife and two dogs. He is a huge Southern California sports fan and a retired member of the Fresno State drumline.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The NBA Trade Deadline is a few days away and rumors are starting to circulate more than before. The Detroit Pistons, who had a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/where-pistons-sit-on-nbas-longest-losing-streak-list" rel="noopener">record losing streak earlier</a> in the season, are viewed as a team willing to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pistons-trade-targets-early-in-2023-24-nba-season" rel="noopener">sell multiple pieces</a>. One player whose name has come up is Monte Morris, and he is reportedly <a href="https://theathletic.com/5248955/2024/02/05/pistons-trade-deadline-nba-zach-lavine-tobias-harris/" rel="noopener">drawing serious interest</a> from the Minnesota Timberwolves ahead of the deadline, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.</p><p>“On a smaller scale, rival teams continue to be interested in Pistons guard Monté Morris, per league sources. The Timberwolves are one of the teams with the most interest. Minnesota, per league sources, tried to trade for Morris when he was in Washington prior to Detroit. The Pistons, though, also value what Morris brings to the table as a veteran guard who takes care of the ball and can shoot. Morris just returned from injuries that forced him to miss the first 43 games of the season.”</p><p>Morris has played a minimal role with the Pistons this season after spending last year with the Washington Wizards. He has played in just six games this season and is averaging just 4.5 points per game. With the Pistons having the worst record in the NBA, it makes sense for them to explore the market and see if they can get an asset of some sort in return.</p><p>The Timberwolves reportedly kicked the tires on a Morris trade previously, and adding a veteran guard would be a big boost to the team. However, as Edwards mentions, the Pistons could decide to hold, especially with Morris just now returning after missing more than 40 games due to an injury.</p><p>Nonetheless, Monte Morris is one name to keep an eye on ahead of the deadline.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Pistons’ Monte Morris drawing serious trade interest from Timberwolves

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-pistons-trade-deadline-strategy-with-bojan-bogdanovic-alec-burks-monte-morris');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Pistons’ trade deadline strategy with Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, Monte Morris');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/NBA-rumors-Pistons-trade-deadline-strategy-with-Bojan-Bogdanovic-Alec-Burks-Monte-Morris.webp"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Pistons’ trade deadline strategy with Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, Monte Morris</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-01-25T07:22:19-08:00">January 25th, 7:22am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-01-25T07:22:19-08:00">January 25th, 7:22am</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With there only being two weeks away until the NBA trade deadline, it will be interesting to see what moves the Detroit Pistons have in store. As per the rumor mill, the Pistons are looking for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-pistons-outlook-on-4-blue-chippers-complicates-dejounte-murray-zach-lavine-trade" rel="noopener">trades that improve the roster</a>, although it makes more sense for them to sell off some of their veteran pieces, such as Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, and Monte Morris, given their current record of 5-39.</p><p>But the Pistons’ decision-making won’t be as straightforward. According to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, the Pistons <a href="https://theathletic.com/5225829/2024/01/25/pistons-nba-trade-deadline-2024/" rel="noopener">“are not actively shopping”</a> Bogdanovic and Burks, while it is “not a given” that they will trade away Morris since the team wants him around for backcourt depth.</p><p>Nonetheless, it will all depend on what the Pistons can get in a trade for those veterans that will determine whether or not they decide to pull the trigger. Per Edwards, Detroit is looking for “a good first-round draft pick and a good player” in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic, while “two really good second-round picks, at minimum” could encourage them to trade away Alec Burks.</p><p>If the Pistons don’t find a team that meets their asking price in a trade, there appears to be <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-pistons-have-explored-bojan-bogdanovic-trade-talks-but-will-he-get-dealt" rel="noopener">no urgency</a> for them to sell low. The team would just “wait until the summer” before they decide what to do with Bogdanovic if he doesn’t net them an acceptable trade return, as they have a team option <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/detroit-pistons/bojan-bogdanovic-8083/" rel="noopener">worth $19 million</a> for the sharpshooting Croat for next season. Meanwhile, they reportedly have belief that they can re-sign Burks, an impending unrestricted free agent, should he remain with the team until season’s end.</p><p>In the end, Edwards, one of the most plugged in Pistons beat reporters, feels like this “likely won’t be a splashy deadline for Detroit”. But contending teams could certainly use the services of a few of their veterans. With the clock ticking, perhaps teams become more desperate and pony up the necessary assets to entice the Pistons.</p><p>Still, one could argue that the Pistons, a team that’s desperately trying to improve, want to give Cade Cunningham and the rest of their untouchable blue-chippers as much help as possible to fulfill that goal.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Pistons’ trade deadline strategy with Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, Monte Morris

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/pistons-news-bojan-bogdanovic-monte-morris-injury-updates-2');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pistons get mixed bag of Bojan Bogdanovic, Monte Morris injury updates');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Pistons-news-Detroit-gets-mixed-bag-of-Bojan-Bogdanovic-Monte-Morris-injury-updates.jpg"></figure><h1>Pistons get mixed bag of Bojan Bogdanovic, Monte Morris injury updates</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-11-21T14:05:44-08:00">November 21st, 2:05pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-11-21T14:09:01-08:00">November 21st, 2:09pm</time><address><a>Brett Siegel</a>Brett Siegel joined ClutchPoints as a credentialed NBA insider and reporter in May 2023 after previously covering the NBA for Fastbreak on FanNation and NBA Analysis Network, as well as working with Louisville Basketball. From playing to coaching to covering the game as a media member, Brett has been involved with the game of basketball from many different perspectives. Breaking the news of various free agent signings, yearly NBA Draft news and other key stories around the league, Brett is always on the phone, getting the latest news and rumors around the NBA. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @BrettSiegelNBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Detroit Pistons currently own a 2-13 record, the worst mark in the NBA to this point in the season. Losers of nine straight games, nothing has gone right for the Pistons so far this year.</p><p>Starting center Jalen Duren has been in and out of the lineup due to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pistons-news-jalen-duren-injury-update-sure-to-please-detroit-fans" rel="noopener">ongoing ankle problems</a> and the Pistons have been without two key veterans in Monte Morris and Bojan Bogdanovic. In fact, neither player has actually played this season due to their respective injuries. Morris has been dealing with a right quad strain since the preseason and Bogdanovic has had a right calf strain.</p><p>On Tuesday, the Pistons provided some <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pistons-news-bojan-bogdanovic-monte-morris-injury-updates" rel="noopener">medical updates on the two veterans</a> and it appears as if Detroit could be getting some reinforcements sooner than later.</p><p>Bogdanovic has been cleared to return to full contact in practice, meaning that he could make his season debut in the coming weeks. Morris’ update is not as optimistic, though, as according to NBA insider Marc Stein, the 28-year-old guard will be <a href="https://x.com/TheSteinLine/status/1727055838223995379?s=20" rel="noopener">re-evaluated</a> in 6-to-8 weeks after undergoing a PRP injection for his quad injury.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/wizards-news-washington-pulls-off-monte-morris-pistons-trade-after-kyle-kuzma-deal" rel="noopener">Morris came to the Pistons</a> during the offseason in a trade with the Washington Wizards. In a total of 62 games last season, 61 of which he started in, Morris averaged 10.3 points and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 38.2 percent from three-point range. His stable presence in the backcourt would really benefit the Pistons’ slumping offense.</p><p>Bogdanovic has been with the Pistons since the start of the 2022-23 season and he was the team’s scoring leader a season ago, averaging 21.6 points per game while shooting 41.1 percent from three-point range. In wake of Bogdanovic’s absence, the Pistons have been thin on the wing with Ausar Thompson and Isaiah Livers doing their best to fill the void left behind by the veteran forward.</p><p>Former top overall pick Cade Cunningham could really benefit from both Morris and Bogdanovic returning from injury, as Cunningham has been one of the only consistent sources of scoring for the Pistons this season.</p><p>The team will provide further updates on the status of their two veterans at a later time, but it does appear as if Bogdanovic is in the final stages of his rehab.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pistons get mixed bag of Bojan Bogdanovic, Monte Morris injury updates

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/pistons-news-bojan-bogdanovic-monte-morris-injury-updates');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pistons dealt tough Bojan Bogdanovic, Monte Morris injury updates');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/pistons-news-detroit-dealt-tough-bojan-bogdanovic-monte-morris-injury-updates.jpg"></figure><h1>Pistons dealt tough Bojan Bogdanovic, Monte Morris injury updates</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-10-24T09:33:34-07:00">October 24th, 9:33am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-10-24T09:39:37-07:00">October 24th, 9:39am</time><address><a>Brett Siegel</a>Brett Siegel joined ClutchPoints as a credentialed NBA insider and reporter in May 2023 after previously covering the NBA for Fastbreak on FanNation and NBA Analysis Network, as well as working with Louisville Basketball. From playing to coaching to covering the game as a media member, Brett has been involved with the game of basketball from many different perspectives. Breaking the news of various free agent signings, yearly NBA Draft news and other key stories around the league, Brett is always on the phone, getting the latest news and rumors around the NBA. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @BrettSiegelNBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Detroit Pistons have not made the NBA playoffs since 2019. Failing to win more than 23 games in a season each of the last four years, new head coach <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pistons-2023-offseason-recap-cade-cunningham-ausar-thompson-bojan-bogdanovic" rel="noopener">Monty Williams is looking to guide</a> this young team in the right direction entering the 2023-24 season in order to get out from the bottom of the league standings. However, this will be tough to achieve early on with both Bojan Bogdanovic and Monte Morris dealing with injuries.</p><p>Ahead of the start of the new season, the <a href="https://x.com/Pistons_PR/status/1716844507486990639?s=20" rel="noopener">Pistons gave some updates</a> on the status of Bogdanovic and Morris, both of which have been dealing with injuries throughout the preseason. Bogdanovic has been sidelined due to a right calf strain and will be re-evaluated in four weeks. As for Morris, he suffered a right quad strain while recovering from lower back soreness and will now be re-evaluated in three weeks.</p><p>These are two key pieces for the Pistons to be missing at the start of the 2023-24 season, especially since this is such a young team. In fact, Bogdanovic and Morris are two of the four players on this roster with at least six years of NBA experience. Sharpshooter Joe Harris and Alec Burks are the only other experienced talents in Detroit.</p><p>A youthful roster highlighted by recent first-round picks, the Pistons will now have to turn to former first overall pick Cade Cunningham to carry the load as he returns from a season-ending leg injury suffered last year. In Bogdanovic’s absence, the Pistons may very well turn to rookie <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pistons-news-ausar-thompson-potential-starter-cade-cunningham" rel="noopener">Ausar Thompson to start</a> out on the wing.</p><p>Thompson impressed the team throughout the preseason and made a strong case for himself to be in the Pistons’ starting rotation. Due to some injuries, the rookie may get the chance to prove his worth from the very first game of the season.</p><p>In a total of 59 games with the Pistons last season, Bogdanovic averaged a career-high 21.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game while shooting 41.1 percent from the floor. A high-level scoring option on the wing, the Pistons will have a hard time replacing his lost production.</p><p>Morris played in 62 games with the Washington Wizards last season, averaging 10.3 points and 5.3 assists per game. The 28-year-old guard was traded to the Pistons this offseason in exchange for a 2027 second-round pick.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pistons dealt tough Bojan Bogdanovic, Monte Morris injury updates

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-monte-morris-trade-suitors-wizards-clear-point-guard-logjam/');   ga('set', 'title', 'RUMOR: Monte Morris trade suitors pop up as Wizards look to clear point guard logjam');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/nba-rumors-monte-morris-trade-suitors-pop-up-as-wizards-look-to-clear-point-guard-logjam.jpeg"></figure><h1>RUMOR: Monte Morris trade suitors pop up as Wizards look to clear point guard logjam</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-06-29T14:13:06-07:00">June 29th, 2:13pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-06-29T14:13:06-07:00">June 29th, 2:13pm</time><address><a>Tim Crean</a>Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined ClutchPoints in 2022. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL, NBA, soccer, sports media, and more. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie, it is a dream to write about sports professionally. He’s a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York and when he’s not enjoying a round of golf he's probably coaching youth soccer or flag football. You can catch all of his sports-related musings on Twitter at @twcrean.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>For Washington Wizards point guard Monte Morris, a trade could be coming soon. Several trade destinations make sense, and there could even be a bit of a bidding war thanks to the demand for the reasonably priced PG.</p><p>There is a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/winners-losers-celtics-wizards-grizzlies-trade-kristaps-porzingis-marcus-smart/" rel="noopener">Wizards fire sale</a> going on with trades of Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis, and Chris Paul happening just ahead of the NBA draft. Now, according to ClutchPoints NBA insider Brett Siegel, a Morris trade could be the next domino to fall, as the 28-year-old is receiving interest from <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/siegels-scoop-warriors-plan-on-draymond-greens-return-raptors-want-to-run-it-back" rel="noopener">at least three teams</a> and possibly four.</p><p>“Entering the final year of his contract and set to make $9.8 million, Morris is being viewed as a key point guard target for various teams in both the Eastern and Western Conferences, Seigel writes. “The Bulls, Timberwolves, and Bucks have all been mentioned as possible suitors for Morris, and the Raptors are an interesting team to watch as well if VanVleet departs in free agency.”</p><p>Washington is currently looking to sell off any players with value, and with four potential Monte Morris trade destinations, he definitely has some. In addition to being a relatively low-priced expiring contract, the <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/morrimo01.html" rel="noopener">six-year NBA vet</a> averaged 10.3 points, 5.3 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game last season, while shooting 38.2% from 3-point range.</p><p>In addition to Morris’ trade value, the Wizards are also relatively deep at point guard, even after flipping Chris Paul to the Golden State Warriors. The team still has veterans Tyus Jones and Delon Wright under contract next season as well.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

RUMOR: Monte Morris trade suitors pop up as Wizards look to clear point guard logjam

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nuggets-news-former-denver-player-monte-morris-responds-to-draymond-greens-nikola-jokic-praise');   ga('set', 'title', 'Former Denver player Monte Morris responds to Draymond Green’s Nikola Jokic praise');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/nuggets-news-former-denver-player-monte-morris-responds-to-draymond-greens-nikola-jokic-praise.jpg"><figcaption>6/5/23</figcaption></figure><h1>Former Denver player Monte Morris responds to Draymond Green’s Nikola Jokic praise</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-06-05T17:35:12-07:00">June 5th, 5:35pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-06-05T17:35:12-07:00">June 5th, 5:35pm</time><address><a>Steve Silverman</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>There is complete agreement around the NBA that Nikola Jokic of the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-viral-joker-game-2-jinxed-denver-vs-heat" rel="noopener">Denver Nuggets</a> is a spectacular player who can dominate when it comes to scoring, rebounding and passing out assists. However, that just touches on his ability as a leader, something that ex-Nugget Monte Morris and Draymond Green pointed out after Denver dropped Game 2 of the NBA Finals.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">You 100% right <a href="https://twitter.com/Money23Green?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Money23Green</a> . That wack body language stuff so bad for someone to see if it’s coming from your Leader ! You want your leader to boost guys <a href="https://t.co/I3yaBqhZDa">https://t.co/I3yaBqhZDa</a></p><p>— Monte Morris (@BigGameTae) <a href="https://twitter.com/BigGameTae/status/1665856153341837314?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Green <a href="https://twitter.com/biggametae/status/1665856153341837314?s=12&amp;t=bm8qRt18zuhlXFzV7rKRAQ" rel="noopener">went into detail</a> at the conclusion of the game, pointing out how Jokic was open for the potential last-second shot in Miami’s 111-108 victory Sunday night. However, Jamal Murray had the ball in his hands and he also had a good look. He took it and his shot rimmed out.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-michael-malone-explains-surprising-timeout-decision-at-end-of-game-2" rel="noopener">Jokic’s reaction</a> after the shot was missed was one of total support, according to Morris and Green. Jokic clapped his hands after the shot bounded out — indicating it was a close miss and could have gone in to send the game to overtime.</p><p>Additionally, there was no slump to Jokic’s shoulders. He wasn’t mad, he wasn’t depressed, he was just looking forward to the next game — and that’s what leaders do.</p><p>Monte Morris, now with the Washington Wizards, pointed out that stars who don’t have the kind of positive reaction Jokic did can really hurt a team. The way Jokic reacted can only boost a team.</p><p>The Denver big man had a huge scoring night, putting 41 points on the board and nearly leading a late comeback against the Heat.</p><p>The Nuggets and Heat are tied at 1-1 in the championship round, and the series resumes Wednesday night in South Florida.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Former Denver player Monte Morris responds to Draymond Green’s Nikola Jokic praise

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/wizards-news-monte-morris-calls-out-nba-sports-betting-as-hecklers-take-fun-out-the-game');   ga('set', 'title', 'Wizards guard Monte Morris calls out NBA sports betting as hecklers take ‘fun out the game’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Monte-Morris-Wizards-betting-parlay-odds-gambling.jpg"></figure><h1>Wizards guard Monte Morris calls out NBA sports betting as hecklers take ‘fun out the game’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-03-16T22:59:24-07:00">March 16th, 10:59pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-03-16T22:59:24-07:00">March 16th, 10:59pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Loves Arsenal and the Los Angeles Clippers, so his loyalty can never be questioned. This guy has been through enough sports trauma for one lifetime.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Fans have plenty of reasons to follow the NBA religiously. Not only do they get to witness the best professional basketball players duke it out against each other, the league also provides its own kind of soap opera, what with the endless beef and the politics involved in roster moves. However, as the old adage goes, “money makes the world go ’round”. Betting <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/betting" rel="noopener">has become ingrained within sports culture</a>, especially in recent years — and Washington Wizards point guard Monte Morris does not like how it’s affecting how fans view the game.</p><p>In particular, the Wizards floor general does not appreciate how the occasional inability of players to reach the over/under lines on specific player <a href="https://twitter.com/ChaseHughesNBCS/status/1636433922249637892?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1636433922249637892%7Ctwgr%5E52b931c8292c977074a53f6c7c8081dd1c822faf%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.redditmedia.com%2Fmediaembed%2F11t2k6e%3Fresponsive%3Dtrueis_nightmode%3Dfalse" rel="noopener">leads to nasty fan heckling</a>. This, in turn, takes away the purity of what makes the game so great.</p><p>“Now you hear guys yelling ‘I need such and such for the parlay.’ They just take the fun out of the game, like the love for that, every night,'” Morris said, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington.</p><p>For the uninitiated, for a bettor to hit on what the Wizards called a “parlay”, those included in the bet must reach all of their lines, without fail. For example, if a bettor takes the over on Monte Morris’ six assists line for the night, they must also hit on another bet so they could take home their winnings. So even if the Wizards PG hits seven dimes, and, let’s say, the bettor gambled on Kyle Kuzma to hit over 23 points and he failed, they will come home empty-handed.</p><p>This has drastically changed the way fans follow the game; instead of rooting for their team to win a championship, which, at its core, is the ultimate goal in all of professional sports, they end up box score surfing instead. And if they don’t get the stat line they need to hit on their wager, some even resort to name-calling on social media.</p><p>Some players, such as Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier, have been <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-terry-rozier-hits-back-at-angry-bettor-with-brutal-nsfw-response-to-threat" rel="noopener">on the receiving end of verbal abuse</a> on social media as a result of a failed parlay. Meanwhile, Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant took an outright shot towards gamblers when he <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nets-news-kevin-durants-savage-clapback-at-slander-from-angry-bettors-who-lost-money-on-fanduel" rel="noopener">made fun of their missed parlays</a> when he scored just 14 points in 40 minutes against the Hornets in March 2022.</p><p>Nonetheless, given the money involved in the sports betting industry, the Wizards guard may have to make do with the current circumstances.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Wizards guard Monte Morris calls out NBA sports betting as hecklers take ‘fun out the game’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kyle Kuzma reacts to Monte Morris-Wizards trade with incredible story from childhood');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article><header><figure><img src="https://clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Kyle-Kuzma-reacts-to-Monte-Morris-trade-with-incredible-story-from-childhood.jpeg"></figure><h1>Kyle Kuzma reacts to Monte Morris-Wizards trade with incredible story from childhood</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2022-06-29T10:13:12-07:00">June 29th, 10:13am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2022-06-29T10:13:12-07:00">June 29th, 10:13am</time><address><a href="https://medium.com/@rpsalao">R.P. Salao</a>Check out my best stuff on Medium - medium.com/@rpsalao.I also post quality NBA YouTube content - tinyurl.com/SalaoYouTube.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Washington Wizards <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-denver-trades-monte-morris-will-barton-to-wizards-for-kentavious-caldwell-pope-ish-smith/">made their move to acquire a point guard</a>, netting Monte Morris in a four-player trade with the Denver Nuggets. It didn’t take long for Kyle Kuzma – who himself had his name in trade rumors – to react on the deal.</p><p>Kuz <a href="https://twitter.com/kylekuzma/status/1542173528023339010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1542173528023339010%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fclutchpoints.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost-new.php">gave his well-wishes</a> to longtime teammate Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who has been with him throughout every season of his career since 2017.</p><blockquote>“My brother for life!!!! Was my vet when I first came into the league and been locked ever since! Happy for you! Joker got a knockdown shooter and Winner. Go get it pimp!!” said Kyle Kuzma to his departing Wizards and Lakers vet.</blockquote><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">.<a href="https://twitter.com/CaldwellPope?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">@CaldwellPope</a> My brother for life!!!! Was my vet when I first came into the league and been locked ever since! Happy for you! Joker got a knockdown shooter and Winner. Go get it pimp!!</p><p>— kuz (@kylekuzma) <a href="https://twitter.com/kylekuzma/status/1542173528023339010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">June 29, 2022</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>But with the departure of one Kyle Kuzma’s close friends, in comes another in Monte Morris, who enters a Wizards backcourt rotation desperate for ball-handling support.</p><blockquote>“On the the other end! I get a brother back! Monte and I were in second grade together and at 8 years old we said we would play on the same NBA team together! 🤯🤯🤯🤯 LIFE IS A SIMULATION,” declared the Wizards forward.</blockquote><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">On the the other end! I get a brother back! Monte and I were in second grade together and at 8 years old we said we would play on the same NBA team together!🤯🤯🤯🤯 LIFE IS A SIMULATION</p><p>— kuz (@kylekuzma) <a href="https://twitter.com/kylekuzma/status/1542173975593230336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">June 29, 2022</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Kuz’s story is definitely the stuff that dreams are made of. Both hoopers hail from Flint, Michigan and were in the same year growing up. The Wizards star even quote tweeted a couple of pics of them together, with the two even standing next to each other in both a class and team photo.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">💯💯💯💯💯 y’all don’t even know the half! This legendary from were we from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Flint?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">#Flint</a> <a href="https://t.co/moTeOSm42R" target="_blank">https://t.co/moTeOSm42R</a></p><p>— kuz (@kylekuzma) <a href="https://twitter.com/kylekuzma/status/1542186557792305154?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">June 29, 2022</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Considering that team had two future NBA stars, someone better contact the coach of the squad and ask for his training regiment. There may be a player development role for him in the not-so-distant future.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kyle Kuzma reacts to Monte Morris-Wizards trade with incredible story from childhood

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '');   ga('set', 'title', 'Nuggets trade Monte Morris, Will Barton to Wizards for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Ish Smith');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article><header><figure><img src="https://clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Nuggets-Wizards-Monte-Morris-Will-Barton-Kentavious-Caldwell-Pope-Ish-Smith.jpeg"></figure><h1>Nuggets trade Monte Morris, Will Barton to Wizards for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Ish Smith</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2022-06-29T07:23:01-07:00">June 29th, 7:23am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2022-06-29T08:07:50-07:00">June 29th, 8:07am</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Marist College '22 | earned my stripes at TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Prior to NBA free agency officially beginning, the Denver Nuggets and Washington Wizards have agreed to a swap of two players from each team. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Monte Morris and Will Barton are heading to Washington, while Denver receives Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Denver is nearing trading Monte Morris and Will Barton to Washington in deal for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith, sources tell <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAthletic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">@TheAthletic</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Stadium?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">@Stadium</a>.</p><p>— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1542148982624878599?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">June 29, 2022</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Morris and Barton have been two of Nikola Jokic’s key supporting pieces over the past few seasons and will head to Washington to presumably do the same for Bradley Beal after he <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/wizards-rumors-bradley-beals-contract-plans-ahead-of-2022-nba-free-agency-revealed/">signs a new deal</a> with Washington. Denver opens up some financial flexibility by trading away two of its starters from last season and adding a player that the front office was <a href="https://twitter.com/msinger/status/1542150875396952065?s=20&amp;t=uoFZHgzQ9VaHy7JQHyOYiQ">heavily interested in</a>.</p><p>The <a href="http://fanatics.93n6tx.net/b3PaNP" rel="noopener">Wizards</a> will improve their depth with this deal, and they badly needed a veteran to help at point guard. Morris averaged 12.6 points and 4.4 assists last season and is one of the most turnover-averse players in the league. He would be a strong option to start next to Beal. Barton averaged 14.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game and could be a useful scorer for a Washington team looking to make it back to the playoffs.</p><p>Caldwell-Pope, after being traded to Washington as a part of the deal that sent Russell Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers, is off to his third team in three seasons. His shooting and defense will be very helpful alongside Jokic for the <a href="http://fanatics.93n6tx.net/vnZW7v" rel="noopener">Nuggets</a>. He averaged 13.2 points per game while shooting 39.0 percent from deep last season.</p><p>Smith, meanwhile, has the chance to become the <a href="https://twitter.com/StatsWilliams/status/1542151469863936007?s=20&amp;t=xnNVdu7E2gdLWJHqKIfkOA">first player</a> in NBA history to play for 13 different teams. He won’t be expected to have a major role with the Nuggets, but he could be a nice depth option.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Nuggets trade Monte Morris, Will Barton to Wizards for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Ish Smith

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '');   ga('set', 'title', 'Steph Curry reacts to Monte Morris’ game-winning 3-pointer');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article><header><figure><img src="https://clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Warriors-Steph-Curry-.jpeg"></figure><h1>Steph Curry reacts to Monte Morris’ game-winning 3-pointer</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2022-02-17T10:17:45-08:00">February 17th, 10:17am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2022-02-17T10:18:38-08:00">February 17th, 10:18am</time><address><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@markhaynesnba?lang=en">Mark Haynes</a>Mark Haynes is an NBA beat reporter covering the Golden State Warriors for ClutchPoints. He also hosts a YouTube series, Year 1 by ClutchPoints, where he interviews professional athletes about their rookie season.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>San Francisco, CA – The Golden State Warriors will go into the All-Star break with the second-best record in the NBA, but they didn’t end this portion of the season the way they would’ve liked. The Warriors lost 4 of their last 5 games, and the fifth and final game against the Denver Nuggets ended with a game-winning shot over Stephen Curry.</p><p>“Monte (Morris) made a clutch bucket and I gave it to him,” Curry told ClutchPoints. “The last thing you can do in that situation is give up a three, and I did that.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Stephen Curry on giving up the game-winner against the Nuggets:</p><p>"Monte (Morris) made a clutch bucket and I gave it to him. The last thing you can do in that situation is give up a three, and I did that." <a href="https://t.co/9gBHwEWh0q" target="_blank">pic.twitter.com/9gBHwEWh0q</a></p><p>— Mark Haynes (@markhaynesnba) <a href="https://twitter.com/markhaynesnba/status/1494204403611361286?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">February 17, 2022</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Overall Curry and the Warriors played a good game. They had the Nuggets against the ropes the entire night, but when it mattered most in the final minute of the evening the Warriors came up short.</p><p><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-22-the-warriors-stephen-curry-head-to-all/id1588850883?i=1000551383361"><i><b>Click here for more on Steph Curry &amp; the Warriors</b></i>*</a></p><p>Curry made a shot while being fouled by Morris with 5.9 seconds left in the game. It gave the Warriors a two-point lead after he made the free throw. At this point, the Warriors only needed one more stop to go into the All-Star break on a high note.</p><p>The two-time MVP made a small split-second mistake and the man he just scored over did the same to him. The only difference is when his shot went through the net there was no time left on the clock, and the game was over. Morris stole a huge game from Curry and the Dubs.</p><p>The Warriors received a ton of positive news at the start of the day, regarding Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga, and James Wiseman. The Warriors just failed to end the day with a win.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Steph Curry reacts to Monte Morris’ game-winning 3-pointer

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '');   ga('set', 'title', 'Warriors’ Stephen Curry dagger spoiled by Monte Morris game-winner');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article><header><figure><img src="https://clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Warriors-news-Stephen-Curry_s-nasty-And-1-game-winner-saves-Dubs-vs.jpeg"></figure><h1>Warriors’ Stephen Curry dagger spoiled by Monte Morris game-winner</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2022-02-16T21:44:44-08:00">February 16th, 9:44pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2022-02-16T21:54:47-08:00">February 16th, 9:54pm</time><address><a href="https://medium.com/@rpsalao">R.P. Salao</a>Check out my best stuff on Medium - medium.com/@rpsalao.I also post quality NBA YouTube content - tinyurl.com/SalaoYouTube.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Stephen Curry put the Golden State Warriors up in the closing seconds against the Denver Nuggets. But it was Monte Morris who got the last laugh.</p><p>Check out Steph Curry’s <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1494183611108507648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1494183611108507648%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fclutchpoints.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost-new.php">would-be game-winner</a> with 5.9 seconds left:</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">STEPHEN CURRY MIDDY AND THE FOUL 🔥</p><p>Warriors by 2 with 5.9 seconds remaining!<a href="https://t.co/NN0kaICroA" target="_blank">pic.twitter.com/NN0kaICroA</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1494183611108507648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">February 17, 2022</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Warriors’ lead didn’t last for long as the Nuggets got a clutch bucket from Monte Morris off the Nikola Jokic dish.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">🚨 MONTE MORRIS FOR THE WIN 🚨</p><p>Nuggets come back to beat the Warriors at the buzzer!<a href="https://t.co/dExEV08vnN" target="_blank">pic.twitter.com/dExEV08vnN</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1494184918200426496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">February 17, 2022</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Curry finished the game with 25 points as the Warriors saw their balanced attack, with seven total players scoring in double-figures, come up short.</p><p>Nikola Jokic led the way for the Nuggets with 35 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists, including the dish to Monte Morris that ended the game.</p><p>It’s been a tough stretch of late for Stephen Curry and the Warriors, who have now lost four of their last five games. The good news for them is that Draymond Green <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/warriors-news-draymond-green-injury-gets-crucial-update-after-19-missed-games/">may be on the mend sometime after the All-Star break.</a></p><p>The Denver Nuggets, meanwhile, are <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-jamal-murray-michael-porter-jr-get-massive-updates-after-2022-nba-trade-deadline/">still waiting on the returns</a> of their two other stars on the sidelines in Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Both players are reportedly expected to return before the regular season ends. If they can get healthy, Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets could be a serious threat in the West.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>