Cavs to sign Marcus Morris to 10-day contract

Morris will be available for the Cavs game against the Pacers on Monday.

The report from Patrick Beverly and his podcast that Marcus Morris Sr. was intending to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers was backed up by NBA insiders on Saturday night. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Morris will be signing a 10-day contract and should be available for Monday’s game against the Indiana Pacers.

The timing of this deal makes sense. Dean Wade returned to the team after being away for personal reasons but wasn’t able to take the court on Saturday against the Houston Rockets due to knee soreness. This, on top of Evan Mobley and Max Strus — who can play the four in spurts — being out, has left Georges Niang and Isaiah Mobley as the only true power forwards on the roster.

The lack of depth was on display in their loss to the Rockets. J.B. Bickerstaff started Niang but spelled him with Isaac Okoro at the four and lineups featuring two centers with some combination of Jarrett Allen, Tristan Thompson, and Damian Jones. Units that didn’t include Niang unsurprisingly didn’t fare well before garbage time.

Morris should help in the short term. The 34-year-old power forward appeared in 37 games with the Philadelphia 76ers this season before being traded to the San Antonio Spurs as part of a three-team deal. The Spurs waived him shortly thereafter. This season, Morris is averaging 6.7 points on .439/.400/.861 shooting splits with 2.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 17.2 minutes per contest.

At this point, it’s not completely clear how Morris factors into the team’s plans for the remainder of the season. It seems that he’s likely going to be on the team for the remainder of the season given he can provide veteran leadership and toughness the team coulse use. But, Cleveland has an out if they choose to go a different route.