The Cavaliers were right to wash their hands of this player

The Cleveland Cavaliers are 12-0, rolling through the early part of their schedule with dominant showings on both offense and defense. While there are a number of things to point to in explaining their strong start, from coaching to health to luck, one key element has been the team's culture.

These Cavaliers seem to genuinely enjoy playing together, with a joy that translates to energy and connectivity on the court. There also hasn't been any drama over playing time, at least not while they are still winning. Jarrett Allen has sat out to close games, Donovan Mitchell is ceding late-game offense to Darius Garland, and bench players are seeing their minutes go up and down depending on the night.

That team culture is helped, at least in part, by the Cavaliers saying goodbye to Marcus Morris.

The Cavaliers played Marcus Morris a lot last season

Marcus Morris Sr. signed a 10-day contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers in March of last season, parlaying that to a full contract in time to be on the playoff roster. Morris was a 34-year-old journeyman forward who has played for 8 franchises, none for more than four years, as something of a 3-and-D combo forward.

Unfortunately for many of those teams, rostering and playing Marucs Morris means getting all of the Marcus Morris experience. He has a long history of dust-ups, flagrant fouls and questionable moments -- largely on the court, but still taking that line between aggressive and violent and leaping right over it at times.

The Cavaliers were no exception. Morris was ejected just two weeks into his tenure with the Cavs for slamming his elbow into the face of Charlotte Hornets center Nick Richards. In his typical fake tough guy manner, he said after the game "I just wanted to be physical."

Despite his on-court unpredictability and his declining athleticism, Morris ostensibly filled a role as a player who could both defend at the 4 and shoot 3-pointers, which elevated him into the every-night rotation over players like Georges Niang and in place of the injured Dean Wade. He played 12 games down the stretch of the regular season, averaging 15 minutes per game, and then stayed in the rotation for part of the playoff run, making another nine appearances.

When Morris was on the court, however, the Cavaliers were abjectly terrible. They were 10.6 points per 100 possessions worse when he was on the court than when he was off, per Cleaning the Glass. The offense cratered to nonfunctional levels when he played despite his nominal ability to "shoot" from the power forward position.

The Cavaliers did not bring back Marcus Morris

Heading into the summer, the Cavaliers had a decision to make: did they bring back Marcus Morris to bolster their frontcourt rotation?

If J.B. Bickerstaff was still head coach, it's very likely he would have -- he valued something about Morris as a "tough guy" and played him above other players. Those same players are now thriving in new head coach Kenny Atkinson's system, including a confident and active Georges Niang as the backup power forward.

Instead, the Cavaliers bid goodbye to Morris, who languished on the vine this summer before joining the New York Knicks for training camp. A bounceback year from Morris and a slow start from Cleveland could have injected a sense of regret into the front office...but none of that has happened.

Morris was unable to make the Knicks' roster or any other NBA roster, and he is currently left waiting for a chance to get back into the league. He may be someone in mind for a late-season contract, but those kinds of players aren't worth a full-season roster spot. Whatever two-way impact Morris once had has eroded to the point that he is a massive net negative for a lineup when he is on the court.

When you can no longer produce at a high level, teams won't tolerate your eccentricities, especially the kind that get you ejected from games, give free points to the other team, and shine bad press attention on the organization. Draymond Green gets away with it because he remains one of the five best defenders in the sport; even he reached his limit with an indefinite suspension last season.

The Cavaliers are riding the good vibes to an undefeated start, and it's raising their ceiling as a team in the process. There is no chance that Atkinson will hand Morris minutes he doesn't deserve, and as a whole the team is playing excellent defense without false bravado bordering on unnecessary violence.

Goodbye, Marcus Morris. It was not nice knowing you.