Draft a dream night for Philly's Morris twins

Share

Friday, June 24, 2011
Posted: 10 a.m.

By Ryan Feldman
CSNPhilly.com Contributor

NEWARK, N.J.It was a dream night for the Morris twins on Thursday at the NBA Draft.

Marcus and Markieff Morris, who were seated together in the NBA Drafts green room with their agent Tony Dutt along with seven family members and friends, were selected with back-to-back picks.

Its a great feeling, Markieff said. Once I was called, I still had a little pressure on me waiting for my brother to be called. Once he was called, it just came off, and we are both grateful and thankful.

All along, most prognosticators expected Marcus to be drafted before Markieff. Marcus has been widely considered the better prospect.

But it was Markieff whose name was called first when the Phoenix Suns selected him with the 13th pick.

Im grateful, Markieff said. Im thankful being put in this position, and Im going to work my hardest every day and try to contribute to the Phoenix Suns.

Then, with the very next pick, the Houston Rockets selected Marcus.

Its just amazing, Marcus said. Its just amazing how things played out. Just thanking God. He really has a plan for us. It just played out the exact way he wanted it to. Its just so amazing.

The last time two brothers were selected in the same NBA Draft was in 2008 when the Suns drafted Robin Lopez and the Nets drafted Brook Lopez.

Markieff will join a rebuilding Suns team that includes aging stars Steve Nash and Vince Carter. Marcus joins an up-and-coming Rockets team that includes scoring guard Kevin Martin and young assets in Patrick Patterson, Jordan Hill, Terrence Williams, Chase Budinger, Goran Dragic, Kyle Lowry and Courtney Lee.

The Rockets also drafted 7-foot power forward Donatas Motiejunas and 6-foot-9 small forward Chandler Parsons. Markieff was the Suns only draft pick.

Marcus and Markieff wanted to play together in the NBA, like they did at Kansas and in high school at Prep Charter.

Definitely going to be weird, Marcus said about playing without his brother. But were grown up. Were grown men. I just told him that I was proud of him. Told him that I was proud of him, and Im happy that he got to go where he wanted to be. It probably meant more to me than it meant to him when he got drafted.

Hes just my best friend, so I want him to do well.

But if they werent selected by the same team, Marcus wanted to be drafted by the Rockets.

I just told my brother, these were the two places that we both wanted to end up at, if it wasnt together, Marcus said. I wanted to be a Houston Rocket. From the first time I worked out, I got a great vibe from those guys and they told me how much they wanted me.

The Morris twins will now begin their NBA journeys. For the first time in their lives, they wont be able to play together. Instead, theyll face each other in future Western Conference battles. But that wont change the fact that Marcus and Markieff are each others biggest fans.

Ryan Feldman covers college basketball and the NBA Draft for his website, TheHoopsReport.com. He can be reached at rfeldman@thehoopsreport.com.

Related: Draft comes and goes with Iguodala still a SixerSixers draft center Vucevic with 16th overall pick

Contact Us