The Ja Morant era has officially come to an end for the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Ja Morant era has officially come to an end for the Memphis Grizzlies.
After tons of speculation about how the 26-year-old's tenure with the franchise would conclude, an answer is here. The Grizzlies are sending the two-time All-Star to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for forwards Jerami Grant and Kris Murray.
The market for Morant appeared to be limited, but in the end, the Grizzlies find a trade partner for the guard and close the book on an important chapter in franchise history.
Morant, who went No. 2 overall to Memphis in the 2019 NBA Draft, brought a lot of energy and excitement to the Grizzlies when things were going well. In seven years with the team, he was named Rookie of the Year (in the 2019-20 season), Most Improved Player (in the 2021-22 season) and landed All-NBA Second Team honors (in that same 2021-22 campaign).
That's on top of him making two All-Star Games and finishing as high as seventh in the league MVP race.
But his stint with the franchise also featured some off-the-court issues, and his production started to trail off over the last few seasons as well.
Battling injury woes over his final few years with the team, he was limited to just 79 total games from the 2023-24 campaign through this past season. During that span, he averaged 22.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game while shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 29.0 percent from deep.
That's not quite the player he was during his back-to-back All-Star campaigns, when he averaged 26.8 points per game while shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 32.4 percent from 3.
Now, he will get a fresh start with the Blazers, and the Grizzlies will get a couple of new pieces to fit into the puzzle.
Grant, a veteran at this point, could bring some scoring punch to Memphis. This past season, he averaged 18.6 points per contest while shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from deep.
Murray, meanwhile, is entering just his fourth NBA season after being selected in the first round a few years back. He is a strong defender but has a limited offensive game that could use some development.
After selecting highly regarded prospect Cameron Boozer at No. 3 overall in the draft last week, the Grizzlies are headed in a new direction, and Morant won't be part of it.
Grizzlies Roundtable also offers a fan community and message board. We’d love to have you join us to talk all things Grizzlies. Click the “Join” button at the top of the page to join our community for free.
