Kansas University forward Markieff Morris appears to have boosted his NBA draft stock after working out Tuesday with the Detroit Pistons.
Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News posted on his Twitter account Tuesday that, according to his source, Markieff “may have put himself in the mix for the No. 8 pick with the Pistons with his workout.”
Markieff went through drills with Texas’ Tristan Thompson, Oakland’s Keith Benson, Maryland’s Jordan Williams, Florida’s Vernon Macklin and Bismack Biyombo from the Congo.
Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press posted on his Twitter account that Markieff had the best workout of all six players.
The Huffington Post’s Jordan Schultz also seemed to hint that Detroit was a possibility for Markieff in a story Tuesday, saying, “Morris is the longshot here (for Detroit at No. 8), but GM Joe Dumars loves his toughness, something the Pistons have sorely lacked since Ben Wallace’s first stint with the Pistons.”
The NBA draft will take place Thursday in Newark, N.J.
Stephen Curry likes Marcus: On Tuesday, ESPN The Magazine released its third-annual players-only mock NBA draft — an exercise where current NBA players make mock picks for their own teams.
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry selected KU’s Marcus Morris with the 11th pick.
“A guy who plays hard, can shoot a 15- to 20-footer off pick-and-rolls and rebounds well can play for any team. We need workhorses like that,” Curry said in the article.
Houston Rockets guard Kyle Lowry took Markieff Morris with the mock draft’s 14th pick.
“I want Markieff,” Lowry said. “He can play with Patrick Patterson on the second unit, at the 4 or the 5. He’s a rugged banger, but he also has the finesse game and the ability to handle the ball well … And I’m a little biased, because we’re both from Philly.”
ESPN mock draft update: In his latest mock draft posted Tuesday, ESPN.com’s Chad Ford had KU’s Marcus Morris going ninth to the Charlotte Bobcats, Markieff Morris going 18th to the Washington Wizards and Josh Selby going 37th to the Los Angeles Clippers.
In Ford’s previous mock draft posted on June 15, he had Marcus going ninth to the Bobcats, Markieff going 19th to the Bobcats and Selby going 26th to the Dallas Mavericks.
