Could Monte Morris be the Best Backcourt Fit of Bradley Beal’s Career?

Since his rookie season in 2012-2013, Bradley Beal has shared the backcourt with an ever-changing group of point guards, combo guards, and floor generals. The results have varied, though “middling success” might be the most generous thing we can say about the last few years.

John Wall. Andre Miller. Ramon Sessions. Brandon Jennings. Tomas Satoransky. Austin Rivers. Ish Smith. Russell Westbrook. Raul Neto. Spencer Dinwiddie.

There a handful of others, but the list above paints the picture well enough.

Next up, former Nuggets point guard Monte Morris.

It’s been almost six years since the Wizards lost game seven to the Boston Celtics in the second round of the NBA playoffs. The infamous Kelly Olynyk game ended what appeared to be a promising season. Beal’s backcourt mate, John Wall, averaged 23.7 points and 10.7 assists per game and had a career-high true shooting percentage of 54%.

In 2020-21, Russell Westbrook replaced John Wall and averaged an eye-popping 22.2/11.7/11.5. His inspired play down the stretch helped the Wizards secure the last remaining spot in the playoffs, but the Wizards fell to the Philadelphia 76ers in five games in the first round of the playoffs.

These are arguably the two greatest seasons of point guard play that Bradley Beal has experienced in his 10-year career with Washington, with years of inconsistency between them.

Is this kind of production what we should expect from new point guard Monte Morris? It shouldn’t be. Monte Morris is not John Wall nor Russell Westbrook. But could he be the best backcourt “fit” of Bradley Beal’s career? Let’s take a closer look.

Morris had primarily played off the bench in Denver until last year, when he was elevated to a starting role as Jamal Murray recovered from a torn ACL. As a starter, he averaged 12.6 points and only 4 assists a game. When you average his years on a per 36 minute basis, he’s remained remarkably consistent, showing that his production doesn’t depend on his role.

No, these are not Wall/Westbrook numbers, but that’s because Denver’s offense runs primarily through two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and Morris’s style of play is much more predicated on maximizing individual possessions.

In 2016-17, John Wall’s usage rate was 30.6%.

In 2020-21, Russell Westbrook’s usage rate was 30.2%.

Last season, Monte Morris’ usage rate was only 17.4%!

In fact, if you even everything out to 100 possessions per game, Monte Morris’ career offensive rating is higher than both Wall and Westbrook (121 vs. 104 and 108).

Why is that? Because Monte Morris is able to do more with less, which may just be exactly what Bradley Beal needs in a backcourt partner.

In addition to producing better shooting numbers than both Wall and Westbrook (39% from three for his career), Monte Morris also boasts one of the greatest assists-to-turnover ratios in NBA history at 4.78. For context, Chris Paul’s career assists-to-turnover ratio is 3.96. Wall and Westbrook’s are 2.38 and 2.06 respectively. Yikes.

This blend of shooting and ball security potentially makes Monte Morris the most efficient point guard Bradley Beal has ever shared a court with, and as Beal’s own usage rate continues to live above 30%, this may be the best fit of his career as well.

As a shooter, opposing defenses will have to account for Morris, giving Beal more space on the perimeter than he’s had in years. While teams would sag off Wall, Westbrook, and even Dinwiddie, they won’t be able to do the same with Morris, which means Beal will have a little more space to operate and find his rhythm.

And after finishing with a career low percentage from beyond the arc, followed by season-ending wrist surgery, this may be exactly what Bradley Beal needs to find his All-Star form again.

There’s plenty that remains to be seen elsewhere in Morris’ game. At 6’2, his defensive limitations could prove to be a liability and despite his shared history with Coach Unseld, it’s unlikely the offense will resemble what Morris ran in Denver. The personnel in Washington is different, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be effective.

When the ball stuck to Beal’s hands, both Wall and Westbrook had a habit of planting their feet, unwilling to move without the rock in their hands. In Denver, Morris succeeded at cutting to the basket, particularly when Jokic had the ball in the high post.

How will that translate to the Wizards, where Bradley Beal won’t have his back to the basket, and instead, will be operating from the perimeter? With Kristaps Porzingis and Bradley Beal sharing the court for the first time, will we see some of the Jokic-Morris action with Porzingis instead? Will Bradley’s usage dip below 30%?

The answers to these could dictate how productive this backcourt can be. There’s plenty of potential, much of it buried underneath what we can’t anticipate. But the fortunate thing is Monte Morris might be the perfect point guard to unlock it.