Anthony Morrow: A Shooter For Cheap…Sign Him!

Apr 2, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Anthony Morrow (3) drives to the basket against Denver Nuggets guard Evan Fournier (94) during the first half at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

This is the first time in quite a while that I feel a competitive spirit with one of my FanSided colleagues. Evan Massey of Ink on Indy, the Indiana Pacers team page in the FanSided NBA Division wrote a great article on how the Indiana Pacers, who were unceremoniously dumped by the Miami Heat should sign Anthony Morrow in free agency. It is an entertaining and informative read. Only one problem; I don’t want the Pacers to sign him. I want the Bulls to sign him. Hey Gar Forman, Anthony Morrow is a shooter for cheap. You need to sign this dude for the bench.

Pippen Ain’t Easy is the best choice for Chicago Bulls news, previews and reviews that is trying to weed out NBA rumors that are real and the ones that are fake. There are two things Bulls fans that are new to the website should realize…

1) We are very thankful to each and every one of the Pippen Peoples who check us out each and every time they need to curb their Chicago Bulls fix.

2) I tend to keep it very real with my opinions.

This is definitely one of those times. I am very biased writing this column about this player. You see I met this guy last year at his summer league tournament in Charlotte NC. Not only am I the Editor for Pippen Ain’t Easy, I also work as a Newscast Director for a television station. I set up a  situation so his tournament could be covered in a sports segment. I got to meet Anthony and found him to be a great guy. He could have easily been unapproachable considering he is a NBA player coming back to his hometown. Anyone that approached him got a handshake or a picture with him. He actually gave me one of the reversible jerseys from the tournament. I still have it and it’s something that I’m very thankful for.

What was even more impressive to me was he sponsored this tournament and at the time he was a free agent. He hadn’t even signed to the Pelicans at that time. It could have been real easy to pull his money back considering that he didn’t know what was going to happen at the time, but he didn’t. No one was happier than I was when he was signed by the New Orleans Pelicans. No one.

Well according to Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype, Anthony Morrow will opt out of his contract and become a free agent on July 1 to test the market.

Morrow signed a two-year minimum salary deal with a player option last year. He is obviously is trying to get a raise on the 1.15 million that he was to receive in 2014-15 and lock up  some security going forward.

The Chicago Bulls need to take a long look at signing this guy. Anthony Morrow can kill two birds with one stone. An Anthony Morrow signing will address…

1) Depth for the bench which at this moment, the Bulls really are lacking at this point.

2) Anthony Morrow is one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA.

Morrow finished fourth in the NBA last year in three-point accuracy making an astonishing 45.1%. How good is that? That percentage is better than the starting backcourt of Kirk Hinrich and Jimmy Butler shooting percentage from the field combined with room to spare. Neither of these two shot better than 40% last season. Jimmy Butler almost drove me insane with his continued misfires from the land of the extra point shooting an atrocious 28%. UGH!

Playing in limited minutes coming off the bench for the New Orleans Pelicans, Morrow scored 8.4 points off the bench. But he came on late in the season scoring over 20 points five times in the last few weeks of the season. He is going to be coveted by teams that need someone to space the floor and bring a spark off the bench. Morrow is a guy that  can do it. If your percentage is up there with Kyle Korver and Mike Miller, two guys that  can walk into a gym and they are already in range, that’s telling you something…this guy can shoot. Lets’ check out some career accomplishments.

In his first career NBA start back in 2008, he dropped 37 points on an absurd 15-20 shooting against the Clippers. Granted this was before “Lob City”, but it the most points ever scored in a game by an undrafted player in his rookie season. In that game he grabbed 11 rebounds too.

Morrow went on to lead the NBA in three-point percentage that year shooting at a 46.7% clip. Did I mention that this dude can shoot?

In February of 2012 scored a career high 42 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

He was a solid performer for the then New Jersey Nets until he was involved in a deal for the Nets to bring Joe Johnson to town just before the move to Brooklyn.

Anthony Morrow is looking for a bigger paycheck, but that doesn’t mean that he will get as much as he would like. That’s why the Bulls need to pounce  on this guy as soon as free agency starts. If Morrow leaves, this will be his sixth team in a relatively short career. Why not try to lock him in with a two-year, three to four million dollar deal? No one else is going to give him much more than that.

Let’s get real Pippen Peoples. The Chicago Bulls being a strong defensive team and their entire identity being placed on the defensive side of the ball is getting old…quick. Why do you think the Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Love rumors keep swirling? These two players can actually score consistently between commercial breaks. The front office  of the Bulls are going to have to address the fact that this team can’t score. Need an example? The Bulls couldn’t tally 70 points in a basketball game. Let’s take a closer look at that. A professional basketball team in the NBA playoffs couldn’t score 70 points in an elimination game. Think about that.

Anthony Morrow is a player that the Bulls need to consider. Jerry Reinsdorf is not going to open up the bank account to give out blank checks. The Bulls need shooters that can score consistently and Reinsdorf needs cheap labor. Anthony Morrow can take care of both scenarios.