Ja Morant Traded to Portland, Leaving Memphis After Seven Seasons
Ja Morant Traded to Portland, Leaving Memphis After Seven Seasons
The Memphis Grizzlies have traded point guard Ja Morant to the Portland Trail Blazers, according to ESPN, ending a seven-year run that produced two All-Star selections and significant off-court controversy. Portland is sending Jerami Grant and Kris Murray to Memphis in exchange for Morant, who has two years remaining on a five-year, $197.23 million rookie max extension.
Morant arrived in Memphis as the second overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and quickly established himself as one of the league’s most dynamic guards, winning Rookie of the Year in 2019-20 and Most Improved Player in 2021-22. His tenure unraveled off the court when he received an eight-game suspension in 2023 after appearing to display a firearm during an Instagram Live stream, then drew a 25-game suspension later that year – served at the start of the 2023-24 season – for a second similar incident, which the NBA characterized as conduct detrimental to the league. The Grizzlies also traded veteran guard Desmond Bane in the period leading up to this move, signaling a broader roster rebuild. Morant’s most recent season was curtailed by an elbow injury that limited him to 20 games, during which he averaged 19.5 points, 8.1 assists and 3.3 rebounds.
Across 327 regular-season games in Memphis, Morant averaged 22.4 points, 7.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 46.6 percent from the field, numbers that place him among the franchise’s most productive players in the modern era of the roster.
In Portland, Morant joins a Trail Blazers team that also features veteran guard Damian Lillard, who returned to the franchise last year but did not play during the season as he recovered from a torn Achilles sustained while with the Milwaukee Bucks. Whether Lillard returns to full fitness will shape how the two guards are integrated into Portland’s plans.