The New York Knicks have signed veteran forward Marcus Morris to an Exhibit 9 contract, the team announced Sunday. This is the second notable Exhibit 9 contract that the Knicks have handed out in as many days, as New York also signed veteran sharpshooter Landry Shamet to such a deal on Saturday. Exhibit 9 contracts are essentially training camp invites. Both Morris and Shamet will now have a chance to make the Knicks roster. They will be competing with former Orlando Magic first-round pick Chuma Okeke, who is also on a non-guaranteed deal, for New York’s final roster slot.
Morris, entering his age-35 season, is a 13-year NBA veteran who has played for eight NBA teams. Among them are the Knicks, with whom he spent a memorable but brief stint during the 2019-20 campaign. The Knicks dealt him to the Clippers at the 2020 trade deadline, and he stayed in Los Angeles until last season when he was included in the blockbuster trade for James Harden. He remained in Philadelphia until the trade deadline before getting dealt in a deal that brought Buddy Hield to the 76ers. Following a buyout, he signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers, with whom he finished the 2023-24 campaign.
Morris is a versatile forward with physicality to defend bigger wings but his calling card is his shooting. He’s made 37.7% of his three-pointers in NBA and last season he was just above 40%. He’s declined defensively with age and can’t quite create his own looks as earlier in his career but he’s an experienced wing that organization is familiar from that first stint in New York.
Still, he’ll face stiff competition for that final slot in New York between Morris Shamet and Okeke; The Knicks have seemingly decided they want known quantity as their fifteenth man; All three have played real NBA minutes given injuries The Knick experienced last season they want sure whoever they pick capable of doing so again next season.
