Can Marcus Morris Become the Rockets' Next Star?

For years, the Rockets were well-represented in the star department, featuring players like Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Charles Barkley in the '90s who eventually gave way to Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady in the first decade of the new millennium.

However, as good as McGrady and Yao were, their teams always lacked the depth of role players that every great team needs.

Now, as the Rockets have filled their cupboards with excellent supporting players like Chase Budinger, Kyle Lowry, Luis Scola, Courtney Lee and Kevin Martin, they lack the star to lead the squad deep in the playoffs.

Daryl Morey, the well-respected GM of the Rockets, has explored nearly every avenue for landing a star in a trade or free agency, but has come up short in each of these pursuits. Instead, he has stockpiled young players and draft picks with the hope that a young star can emerge to lead the Rockets to greatness.

While young players like Chase Budinger, Patrick Patterson and even Jordan Hill have shown flashes of excellent play, the Rockets' hopes for a star coming from the roster as it is currently composed largely lay on one person: Marcus Morris.

Read on after the jump to hear what I have to say about Morris.

Typically, teams that draft the top players in college know more or less what they are getting with their draftee. With tons of tape at their disposal, teams can evaluate nearly every facet of a player's game.

However, because Morris was playing as a power forward instead of as a small forward as the Rockets envision him, projecting his NBA future is a much more inexact science.

Let's break him down and see if he can become that star that the Rockets so desperately need.

Offense

As previously mentioned, Morris' game at the college level is not necessarily going to mirror his professional style because he will likely be shifting over to the small forward role at the NBA level. Still, it's easy to see the plethora of offensive weapons that Morris has at his disposal when watching tape on Morris.

With a silky smooth turnaround jumper and exceptional footwork in the post, Morris' game down low will have every small forward in the league struggling to check him with his back to the basket. With the exception of perhaps LeBron James and Ron Artest, Morris' physicality will be unmatched among his peers.

Morris obviously will try to exploit as many mismatches inside as possible, but if forced outside he can still flash an underrated jump shot coming off pin-downs and spotting up.

To put it simply, there seems to be little doubt that Morris will be a solid contributor offensively because of his ability to create mismatches and take advantage of them with his diverse offensive offerings. On defense, however, there are a few more question marks.

Defense

Just as Morris' ability to create mismatches offensively will be fortuitous to his success, it has the exact opposite effect on his defensive potential. Morris vowed that he would not be like Carmelo Anthony defensively, but his lack of lateral quickness could be an issue, especially with the number of teams opting to go with three-guard lineups in recent years.

Morris' lateral quickness was certainly better than adequate at Kansas, but the combination of the switch to a quicker game and to a quicker position could be an issue for Morris. Still, given Morris' strong drive and determination, there is no reason why he cannot become an average or better defender.

Conclusion

While Morris has an intriguingly diverse offensive game and a noteworthy work ethic, it is difficult to imagine his ever becoming more than just a complimentary player. Looking up and down the list of the star wings in the NBA, there is really one common denominator-elite athleticism.

Morris can compare himself to Carmelo Anthony as much as he wants to, but he is never going to be the athlete that Anthony is and that lack of athleticism is unfortunately going to hold him back from being more than just another cog on a good team.

This isn't an indictment of the Rockets' drafting strategy-there wasn't a prospect where they selected that looked like a potential star-but simply a statement of fact.

Morris appears poised to have a strong career as a solid starter, but those who expect much more are going to be sorely disappointed.