Marcus Morris made two professional changes this summer.
Morris elected to move on from agent Rich Paul following a bizarre free agency tour. The veteran forward spurned the San Antonio Spurs to ultimately sign with the New York Knicks, but a richer offer from the Los Angeles Clippers reportedly was the driving force that split Morris and Paul apart.
The 29-year-old put these rumors to rest in an interview with The Athletic’s Shams Charania, noting he made the decision to pass on both the Spurs and Clippers because he felt it was the best move for him and his family. Paul echoed these sentiments Monday during an appearance on ESPN’s “Jalen & Jacoby,” making it clear there’s no hard feelings between the two.
“I’m like, ‘That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard.’ But you know, again, they run with that and I guess that’s what gets the people talking and churning,” Paul said. “But things start to unfold and Marcus did the honorable thing — and so did Markieff — they kind of came out and said, ‘Listen, guys. All those rumors and things like that are false.’ So I respected them for that. We still have dialogue. So at the end of the day, as men you are responsible for the decisions that you make. He made a decision and we had a conversation as men and decided to go our separate ways and that’s fine. In business, that happens sometimes. But you know, people go crazy, ‘Oh we hate each other.’ It’s not like that. It’s just I’m advising you to do something, you disagree with it. We understand that, hey, this business relationship is not going the way we would like it to go. So as men you communicate and decide OK, well, this is not what’s best for us and we go our separate ways and I’m OK with that and that’s what transpired.”
It’s been quite the summer for a handful of Paul’s clients. Ben Simmons landed a massive rookie-scale extension with the Philadelphia 76ers, while Anthony Davis was shipped to the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he’ll play alongside fellow Klutch Sports athlete LeBron James.
