The Ja Morant era in Memphis has officially come to an end.
The Grizzlies have been trying to find a trade for Morant for the better part of a year and finally found a deal they liked, partnering with the Portland Trail Blazers, a trade first reported by Shams Charania of ESPN. The trade shakes out like this:
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Portland receives: Ja Morant
Memphis receives: Jerami Grant, Kris Murray
Since owner Tom Dundon bought the Trail Blazers during last season, he has wanted the team to make a bold move, a big splash signing or trade. That is exactly what it is — this is an aggressive swing for the fences, albeit one that carries some risk because of Morant’s history of injuries and suspensions.
When he’s at his best, Morant is one of the most explosive and entertaining players in the league, the 2020 Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Star who still averaged 19.5 points and 8.1 assists a game last season.
While there have been questions about him having lost half a step, it’s hard to judge because, due to injuries and suspensions, he has played in just 79 games across the last three seasons, including 20 last season.
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Portland now has a backcourt of Morant, Damian Lillard (coming off a torn Achilles) and Jrue Holiday. Bringing in a veteran backcourt like that could leave Scoot Henderson as the odd man out (don’t be surprised if other teams call and check on his availability).
Combine that backcourt with Deni Avdija and Donovan Clingan up front, and this becomes one of the more interesting teams to watch this season. If new coach Micah Nori can bring it all together, this team could be entertaining and win a lot of games. But with Morant and Lillard leading the way, missed time due to injuries will be a concern.
This also means Portland is out of the mix to trade for Jaylen Brown, the team would have needed Grant’s salary to match up for that deal (same with the Aaron Gordon rumors out there).
Memphis has been looking to pivot to a fresh start for a while now, particularly building around the just-drafted Cameron Boozer, and this is the clean slate they needed. It’s not near the return Memphis may have originally hoped for when it made Morant available, but the return on this trade — with no draft picks — speaks to his market.
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Grant had a bounce-back season last year, averaging 18.6 points a game and playing almost 30 minutes a night. That said, he could be traded again before the season because the Grizzlies are stacked along the front line with Zach Edey and Isaiah Stewart at the five, then at the forward spots there are Cedric Coward, Boozer, Santi Aldama, Taylor Hendricks, Jaylen Wells, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, GG Jackson, and the just-drafted Karim Lopez. That’s an overload.
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