Houston Rockets showing interest in signing Markieff Morris

The Houston Rockets reportedly have their eye on free agent power forward Markieff Morris, who has been recovering from a neck injury in recent weeks.

The Washington Wizards have really struggled this year, and John Wall‘s season ending achilles injury prompted Washington to become sellers at the trade deadline. They traded Markieff Morris to the Pelicans, who quickly cut him, giving the Houston Rockets another player to consider in the buyout market.

According to Kelly Iko of The Athletic, the Rockets are considering Morris and are closely watching his neck situation. Morris originally injured his neck in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 16 and he has been inactive since Dec. 28.

Daryl Morey recently told reporters that the Rockets will be active in the buyout market this year. The team signed Austin Rivers and Kenneth Faried earlier this season, who gave the team much needed depth at the guard and center positions.

The Rockets are currently thin on forwards and Markieff Morris could definitely help fill in the gaps. Morris’ field goal and 3-point percentage are a bit down this year, but he is a very solid scorer and he has shot well from 3-point range in recent seasons.

Morris has averaged 11.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game over his eight year career. Morris isn’t an elite rebounder for a power forward, but he could certainly help the Rockets, who are the fourth worst rebounding team in the NBA.

Morris is also a solid defender and he gives Houston a body to defend some of the lengthier forwards in the league like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant.

Morris’ neck injury is obviously a concern for any team that is considering signing him. However,  Morris told the Washington Post’s Candace Buckner that he could possibly return to the floor by Feb. 22, which is less than two weeks away.

With Morris’ ability to knock down 3s, defend multiple positions and help out on the boards, one would assume that he would be a good fit in Houston. Hopefully we’ll see Markieff Morris in a Rockets uniform later this month.