Trail Blazers Take Massive Swing, Acquire Ja Morant From Grizzlies in Splashy Trade

One of the significant offseason dominoes the NBA had been waiting to fall was what the Memphis Grizzlies would do with Ja Morant.

At one point, Morant was one of the quickest-rising young superstar guards in the league. But between off-court trouble, suspensions and the inability to stay healthy and fully get back on track, the Grizzlies eventually found themselves in a situation where they were looking to offload his contract.

For the first couple weeks of the offseason, teams seemed unwilling to take that on. But on Monday afternoon, the Portland Trail Blazers bit, reportedly trading for Morant in exchange for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray.

And this is a phenomenal move for Portland.

This is a team that snuck into the playoffs last season, has a good young core and still has a nice mix of veterans as well. Morant should help this team be better immediately next season, while also extending the window of Portland’s trajectory as a rising team in the Western Conference.

He needed a new place and a change of scenery. And if he can get back to what he was a couple years ago, this is a move we could look back on as one of the greatest in Trail Blazers history.

There is risk, of course. Morant could end up being a locker room headache and someone who negatively impacts the culture. But from a basketball standpoint, when he’s on, he’s still one of the best young guards in the NBA.

For Portland, sending out Kris Murray, who was more of a role player for them, and Jerami Grant, who has been important but is on a large contract and beyond his prime, is well worth the swing.

For Memphis, this allows the Grizzlies to hit reset and start building around players like Cedric Coward, Cam Boozer, Jalen Wells, Zach Edey and many of the other young pieces they’ve acquired in recent years.

The Blazers are taking full advantage. They had reportedly been on the hunt for a superstar all offseason, being linked to players like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Davis, but ultimately pulled the trigger on a young player who still has superstar upside in Morant.

It’s yet to be seen how this will play out, but this is a really, really good swing by Portland. In a guard rotation that already had Deni Avdija, Jrue Holiday, Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson, the Blazers’ backcourt is now even more promising.