*Updated at 10:37 a.m. with more information on the **Brandon Rush** trade.*
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– **Marcus Morris** (Houston Rockets) played 23 minutes in his NBA debut versus the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night. He had one point on 0-for-3 shooting (0 of 1 from three, 1 of 2 from the foul line). Marcus grabbed four rebounds, two assists and committed five fouls ([full stats here][1]). The Rockets are somewhat thin in the frontcourt, so Marcus played primarily at the 4 spot, rather than his preferred position at the 3. Rockets blog Red94 asked him about that after the game. You can watch his response [here][2].
– **Drew Gooden** (Milwaukee Bucks) also played on Saturday. In 10 minutes against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Gooden scored two points on 1-for-6 shooting. He also recorded five rebounds and an assist ([full stats here][3]). Gooden started for the Bucks, but it’s the preseason, so there’s not much to take away from his performance or limited run.
– **Markieff Morris** (Phoenix Suns) played in an 18 minute intrasquad scrimmage on Saturday, and, [according to the Arizona Republic][4], he led all scorers with 11 points. No official stats were recorded, but the Republic has this to say about his shot selection:
> Markieff scored off three jumpers and two dunks and surprisingly hoisted four 3-pointers, making one.
– The Suns held media day on Friday, and the Phoenix blog Valley of the Suns wrote up a nice little piece on **Markieff**, the “do-it-all defender.” Check it out [here][5].
– **Brady Morningstar** (NBA D-League, Tulsa 66ers) played another whopping 41 minutes on Saturday, just one night after topping 45 minutes. Morningstar didn’t shoot it particularly well (3 of 12, made his only three-pointer, 3-for-3 on free throws) but he finished with 10 points, four rebounds, a steal, a blocked shot and a team-high six assists ([full stats here][6]).
In the last blog, I asked whether Brady’s recent play might earn him a bench role in the NBA. After all, he’s been filling up the stat sheet. What I forgot to mention was that [a third of the D-League’s players are at NBA training camps][7], including five of Tulsa’s best. We’ll have to see how Brady does if/when his minutes go down and the competition picks up.
– And because it made me laugh: **Josh Selby** (Memphis Grizzlies) got into the holiday spirit and [dressed up as Santa][8] on Saturday, and a tweet from teammate Tony Allen makes me think Josh [didn’t have much of a choice][9].
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Rush finally leaving Indiana?
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Early Sunday morning, Marcus Thompson, a Golden State Warriors beat writer, tweeted that the Warriors are [planning a trade][10] for **Brandon Rush** (Indiana Pacers). You might remember that just a few days ago, Rush was [rumored to be headed to Memphis][11] in a similar trade. As of 2 a.m. Sunday, this new trade proposal was still unofficial, so for up-to-the-minute news, check Thompson’s [Twitter account][12] or the Bay Area News Group’s [Warriors blog][13].
**UPDATE, 10:37 a.m.:** [Sports Illustrated][14] and the [Indianapolis Star][15] have confirmed the trade, saying that the deal should be finalized on Monday and that the Pacers have been [trying to trade Rush for a couple of years][16].
As for Brandon, well, [he sounds excited][17].
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Jayhawks in Sunday NBA preseason games
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… including an OKC-Dallas match-up that the Thunder fan in me can’t wait to see:
[**Sunday, Dec. 18**][18]
– 5 p.m., **Mario Chalmers** and the Miami Heat vs. the Orlando Magic
– 6:30 p.m., NBATV, **Nick Collison** and **Cole Aldrich** and the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. the Dallas Mavericks
**Note:** The Boston Celtics take on the Toronto Raptors at noon, but as of Saturday, **Paul Pierce** was [not expected to play][19].
[1]: http://www.nba.com/games/20111217/SASHOU/gameinfo.html?ls=gt2hp0011100006#nbaGIboxscore
[2]: http://www.red94.net/postgame-interviews-121711/7854/
[3]: http://www.nba.com/games/20111217/MILMIN/gameinfo.html?ls=gt2hp0011100007#nbaGIboxscore
[4]: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2011/12/17/20111217phoenix-suns-sebastien-telfair-tough-competition.html
[5]: http://valleyofthesuns.com/2011/12/17/markieff-morris-is-the-do-it-all-defender/
[6]: http://www.nba.com/dleague/games/20111217/SPGTUL/gameinfo.html
[7]: http://www.nba.com/dleague/news/prospect_watch_week_3_2011_12_13.html
[8]: http://twitter.com/#!/aa000G9/statuses/148204041695014912
[9]: http://twitter.com/#!/aa000G9/statuses/148203795724251136
[10]: http://twitter.com/#!/gswscribe/status/148306517303627777
[11]: http://twitter.com/#!/AlexKennedyNBA/status/146267151697846272
[12]: http://twitter.com/gswscribe
[13]: http://www.ibabuzz.com/warriors/
[14]: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/sam_amick/12/18/rush.amundson/
[15]: http://twitter.com/#!/MikeWellsNBA/status/148420649591898114
[16]: http://twitter.com/#!/MikeWellsNBA/status/148421170004365313
[17]: http://twitter.com/#!/IamThaKing25/status/148431128137707520
[18]: http://www.nba.com/gameline/20111218/
[19]: http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2011/12/18/replacing-jeff-green-looks-inside-job-for-celtics/yLWSqEUZ6kazXodJwNiFML/story.html
