Kansas basketball: Why Arterio Morris will be a lottery pick In 2024

Texas transfer and Kansas basketball combo guard Arterio Morris can become a lottery pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

Arterio Morris has a golden opportunity with the Kansas Jayhawks to show everyone why he was the top-rated point guard out of high school less than two years ago. He is a transfer from Texas who averaged 4.6 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.5 assists in just shy of 12 minutes per game. Morris was stuck behind a trio of talented veteran guards — Marcus Carr, Sir’Jabari Rice, Tyrese Hunter — at Texas last season, thus playing in limited minutes for the Longhorns.

When turning on the tape, Morris’ film pops out with elite athleticism and shiftiness that will absolutely play at the next level. He uses his explosive ability to get to the rim and finish or create his own shot off the dribble. Kansas fans may remember his impressive leaping ability with his alley-oop dunk in the Big 12 championship game at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.

Morris is exactly what I would call a typical Bill Self kind of player, and I think he will fit in perfectly with this team. I fully expect Morris to win the starting job playing alongside Dajuan Harris, which will create quite the defensive tandem.

I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Morris be the second-leading scorer behind Hunter Dickinson this season. Morris is an underrated shooter who shot 33% from beyond the arc last year but shot 40% in the final two months of the season after settling into his role as a freshman. Morris’ shot mechanics are very smooth, and he should be able to continue improving from beyond the arc as he gets more experience in college basketball.

We’ve seen Elmarko Jackson already ranked in the top-5 of mock drafts for the upcoming class. He and Morris are two very similar players — high-IQ guards who can play on or off the ball. They both excel defensively and are high fliers.

If Morris can show he can consistently shoot from beyond the arc like he did to end his freshman year, he will be a sleeper lottery pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. He has all the tools to be a great pro — he just needs the opportunity to show his skills. I fully believe that opportunity will happen in 2023-24 on the likely No. 1 preseason team.

Below is the Arterio Morris dunk vs. Kansas basketball last year.

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