The Cavaliers will sign forward Marcus Morris to a contract for the rest of the season on Thursday, when his 10-day contract expired, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
Morris signed his lone 10-day on March 18 and the Cavs had until Thursday whether to sign him to another, sign him for the rest of the year, or let him go. They are choosing the middle of those things and with good reason.
Morris, 34, has offered a physical, edgy experienced veteran in the frontcourt. He’s already been ejected in one game, in Monday’s win over the Hornets, and Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff suggested he had no issue with it. That’s because Morris’ ejection seemed to wake up the Cavs.
“I just wanted to be physical,” Morris said after the game. “… I’m just trying to set the tone, man. You’re rolling down the paint, catching lobs and we’re trying to stop that type of (stuff).
“There’s been a lot of grueling games and I was just wanted to toughen us up. Step in front of it like, listen this is what’s going to be expected moving forward, not just for today. Set the precedent going into the playoffs. We’re not about to have anybody coming in here and doing what they want to do.
“I wanted to play the game, I didn’t want to get thrown out, but I definitely wanted to put a little lick on him. I was happy the way we responded.”
Morris has appeared in five games with the Cavs and is averaging 7.8 points and 3.0 rebounds, shooting 44 percent from the field and 44 percent on 3-pointers.
The Cavs (44-29) dropped to fourth place in the Eastern Conference with Wednesday’s road loss to the Hornets.
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