The Phoenix Suns and Markieff Morris could eventually part ways after the disgruntled forward had an ugly towel-throwing incident during their 104-96 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday.
Morris, who is continuously being mentioned in numerous trade rumors over the past several months, threw a towel at Suns coach Jeff Hornacek after he was subbed out of the game during the fourth period of the game.
"He's mad about not playing," Hornacek said on Wednesday. "I look at the stat sheet. He's a minus-13 in 12 minutes. So there, I took him out. He thinks he's better than that. Show me."
Following the incident, ESPN confirmed that the Suns suspended Morris for two games. The 26-year-old forward will miss their games against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday and Philadelphia 76ers on Monday.
Suns general manager Ryan McDonough said that they carefully studied the move to suspend Morris after consulting league officials. He clarified, though, that the decision had nothing to do with previous incidents involving Morris.
"We try not to be punitive with these kind of things," McDonough said. "We try to be fair. That's why we consulted with the league. Sometimes, these things do get emotional. We asked for their opinion. There was precedent for these kinds of situations, but we would've done the same thing if it was any of the other 14 players on the roster."
The incident fueled speculation that the Suns will now be more open to moving Morris. During the offseason, Morris publicly expressed his desire to be traded after Phoenix decided to deal his twin brother -- Marcus -- to the Detroit Pistons without consulting him.
However, Zach Lowe of ESPN said that no trade is imminent at this point because teams who are open to a deal for Morris want more assets in return. Lowe also pointed out that the Suns need to make changes not just because of the recent incident but also because of their 12-19 record this season.
"Markieff's trade value is to the point that other teams are asking an asset -- Goodwin, for instance -- in exchange for taking him," Lowe posted on Twitter. "Suns rightfully won't do that. But it feels like the team just needs a shake-up of some kind in the next couple of weeks."
Morris, who is playing in his 5th season in the league, is averaging 10.8 points on just 37.9 percent shooting to go along with 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 23.5 minutes per game this season. His current numbers are far from last season's averages of 15.3 points on 46.5 percent shooting on top of 6.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
