Monte Morris’ flight to Washington had just touched down when he got a call from his agent. Still under contract with the Washington Wizards, Morris was planning to check on his house in the area.
He didn’t realize that he would soon be leaving his house, to return home.
“My agent was like, ‘You’re going home,” Morris recalled in his hometown of Flint on Saturday. “I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘You got traded to the Pistons.’”
“Surreal” is the word Morris, 28, kept returning to as he addressed the media at Durant Park in Flint. One of Michigan’s most accomplished high school basketball players, Morris long held a dream of playing for the Detroit Pistons, the team he grew up watching.
Before he was selected in the second round of the 2017 draft by the Denver Nuggets, he told the Free Press he’d love to have the opportunity to wear the classic red, white and blue Pistons jersey. Six years later, it’s become his reality.
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“I always dreamed about playing for the Pistons, just where I grew up,” he said on Saturday. ”I was at the Boys and Girls Club a lot. We would get a lot of Pistons gear and I remember when Chauncey, Ben, Tayshaun and Rip came down, it was like 2003, I believe. I was 8 years old running around the Boys and Girls Club. I know what it feels like to be a Piston. I used to watch the games in the nosebleeds at the Palace. That pride of just being a Piston, I know what it feels like.”
The Pistons traded for Morris on June 30, late into the first night of free agency negotiations. They coveted the 6-foot-2 point guard, who is one of the NBA’s best at taking care of the ball and will add shooting and experience to their young backcourt.
But it goes beyond the game for Morris, who led Flint Beecher to back-to-back state titles in 2012 and 2013 and earned Michigan’s Mr. Basketball award as a senior in 2013. He’s long been involved in philanthropic efforts in Flint, and he expects to do more work in the community now that he’s back.
“I’m always big on giving back,” Morris said. “As I’ve gotten older, the youth right here is what matters. When I was younger, Mateen (Cleaves) and Charlie (Bell) and Mo Pete (Morris Peterson) and those guys, they was doing that and you couldn’t wait to go to their camps at (Flint) Northwestern and stuff like that. I feel like it’s my turn to step into that role and I’m ready to do it.”
The FlintNOW Foundation, founded by Pistons owner Tom Gores, had a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a newly-renovated basketball court at Durant Park in Flint on Saturday. The court features a mural designed by Flint native Jamiersen Green, who was also in attendance. Morris, who arrived roughly an hour and a half into the event, was immediately the man of the hour.
In addition to the ribbon-cutting, the Pistons held a basketball clinic on the court for kids and teenagers. Morris, surrounded by families from Flint and the surrounding area, addressed the group after the clinic and took questions from young fans in the audience.
He represents the Pistons, but he knows his responsibilities go deeper.
“For one, this is my city,” he said. “Secondly, I’m a Detroit Piston and anything I can do to impact the youth and impact the community, the community needs this. And we’re going to keep doing more like this to keep the community together and shine a light on it. We get a lot of negative publicity a lot. It’s on me and I’m going to take pride in it all year to just do stuff to do around here and just get that juju back going around here. It’s easier now to do it now that I’m 45 minutes away. I’m right here.”
Morris is also excited to play basketball, of course. He joined his new teammates in Las Vegas for Summer League earlier this month, and came away encouraged. The Pistons, coming off of a 17-win season, expect to be an improved team. Cade Cunningham’s return might be the biggest reason for optimism, but the addition of veterans like Morris has also given the team more confidence that depth-wise, they’ll be in great shape to compete.
“Young, athletic,” Morris said. “And they want to learn, they want to win. I talked to Monty (Williams, head coach) and Troy (Weaver, general manager). They said we don’t want this to be a pitstop. We want to actually get after it and try to win games. We ain’t trying to say we’re rebuilding, and that’s why we shaped the roster how we have and great young guys. Cade’s looking amazing, he’s looking real well. Moving well. And then you’ve got the young guys — (James) Wiseman, JD (Jalen Duren), (Jaden) Ivey.”
Morris is the fourth-oldest player on Detroit’s roster. He’ll add stability to a backcourt featuring four players still on their rookie contracts, and should have a significant presence in Williams’ rotation. Last season, he averaged 10.3 points, 5.3 assists and just one turnover per game while shooting 48% overall and 38.2% from 3.
Morris can play on-or-off ball, and he’ll do both next season. After his four-year career at Iowa State, he spent the first five years of his NBA career with the Denver Nuggets. He and Jamal Murray handled playmaking responsibilities and also spotted-up on the perimeter due to Nikola Jokic’s presence.
Whatever the Pistons need from Morris, he’s eager to provide.
“Me coming in just being that vet presence, I feel like I can shoot the ball,” he said. “I ain’t gotta be on the ball all the time, so I’ll be able to play off the ball alongside Cade, kinda like the Jamal Murray role when me and him was in the backcourt together.
“Whatever situation they want me to play, I’ve seen it all. I’ve played third, fourth option, second option, all that. I’m just a hooper, bro. I don’t really care.”
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @omarisankofa.