Report: Knicks Get 2020 First-Round Pick, Ex-St. John's Star Harkless In 3-Team Trade That Sends Morris To Clippers
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- All in all, Marcus Morris served his purpose during his short time with the Knicks.
Morris signed a one-year, $15 million contract with New York over the summer and if the season went off the rails figured to be an attractive trade piece at the trade deadline.
It has and he was.
The Knicks turned their investment into potential future help as part of a three-team trade with the Los Angeles Clippers and Washington Wizards on Thursday.
In it, the Knicks received a package including the Clippers' 2020 first-round draft pick and former St. John's standout Moe Harkless.
Morris and Isaiah Thomas joined the Clippers. Jerome Robinson went to the Wizards.
The perennially rebuilding Knicks now have two first-round picks in each of the next two drafts and a total of seven in the next four.
Morris averaged a team-high 19.6 points and shot 44.2 percent from the floor in 43 games and starts for the Knicks, who are currently 15-36 and all but assured of missing the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.
A former first-round pick of the Orlando Magic, Harkless is averaging 5.5 points in 50 games, including 38 starts this season. He'll likely see most of his minutes with the Knicks at small forward.
MORE: Reports: Knicks Close To Hiring Player Agent Leon Rose As Next President
General manager Scott Perry, who is also serving as interim team president in the aftermath of Steve Mills' removal on Tuesday, also reportedly held discussions with the Los Angeles Lakers involving Morris and the Golden State Warriors centering around point guard D'Angelo Russell. The Knicks were said to covet Kyle Kuzma in a potential Morris deal, but the Lakers refused to cave.
