5 Cleveland Cavaliers who are as good as gone this summer

No. 2: Marcus Morris

The calculus with some players is always a difficult balance to maintain: they are excellent defenders whose edge and motor hlep to overcome other deficiencies in their game, but that same energy and emotion that drives them can sometimes overflow and cause them to lose their cool. The Warriors have had to fight for balance with Draymond Green; players like Ron Artest and Patrick Beverley fit the mold. Marcus Morris is another member of that infamous group.

Morris is strong enough at 6'8" to defend 4s and some 5s, but he can also shoot well enough from 3-point range to serve as a floor-spacing forward. He's a tough defender and has been a useful player on a number of good teams. At age 34, however, his waning athleticism is eroding his impact...and that means the lack of emotional control is not balanced out by on-court impact.

The Cavs were desperate down the stretch last season for a forward who could shoot and defend at the same time, so late-season signing Morris ended up at the back end of the rotation for the playoffs. He played some good minutes for Cleveland, but he also committed a number of unnecessarily hard fouls against opponents.

If the Cavaliers keep Morris it's only a matter of time before he crosses the line. They need to move off of him before that happens. Given his age, it's likely they can justify replacing him for basketball reasons as well.