Ja Morant traded Memphis for Portland, and now he is out here kayaking. Let me repeat that. Ja Morant. Kayaking.
The former face of the Grizzlies, the guy who defined swagger for the entire post-Steph Curry generation, is spending his offseason on Oregon’s rivers and bike trails. He said as much in his introductory session, telling ESPN’s Ben Golliver that Portland is “a very quiet spot, it’s nice.”
“I don’t know if you all have been paying attention to me lately, but I’ve been kind of into nature,” Morant said. “I feel like that’s a bonus. I’m not hiking, but I go walking, ride a bike, I’ve been kayaking. Just being grateful for being alive and the things I do have and my family. And to now have a fresh start. It’s just mind clearing.”
This is the same guy who spent multiple years in the news cycle for the wrong reasons. Guns. Nightclubs. Instagram Lives. Suspensions. The Grizzlies stuck with him longer than most franchises would have, but by June the fit was broken. Memphis shipped him to Portland along with cash for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray.
The trade felt like a mercy killing for both sides. Memphis needed to reset. Ja needed to escape his own environment. Portland was the compromise, and now he is bird-watching.
Whether this actually works is the interesting question. Ja Morant on a struggling Trail Blazers roster is either the perfect chemistry experiment or a slow-motion disaster. Portland is not going to challenge for a title. They are rebuilding around Deni Avdija, Scoot Henderson, and a bunch of young pieces. Adding Ja gives them a face, a highlight machine, and someone who instantly makes Rip City relevant again on League Pass.
What it does not do is put them in the playoffs. The Western Conference is stacked. Oklahoma City is the defending West champion. Denver still has Nikola Jokic. Minnesota just added LaMelo Ball to Anthony Edwards. The Lakers, Warriors and Suns are all still hunting playoff spots. Portland is looking at another lottery year.
None of that should bother Ja if his head is right. This is a chance to reset the narrative. Show up on time. Stay out of trouble. Play great basketball. Let the Blazers develop around him. When your career averages are 22.4 points, 7.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds through 327 games, the talent is not in question. The maturity always has been.
Portland is a great place for that. It is a quieter market than Memphis or LA. The media pressure is lower. The fanbase is loyal but forgiving. And there is enough nature within an hour of downtown to keep a guy on a bike or in a kayak all summer.
The cynics will say Ja is just saying the right things in July. That is fair. Every athlete gets a fresh start in July. The real test comes in February, when the Blazers are 22-30 and Ja is on a road trip to Detroit and the team plane lands at 3 AM.
But there is something believable about this version of Ja Morant. He is 26 now. He has watched his prime years get eaten by suspensions and drama. He knows this is his shot to rewrite the story. Kayaking is not going to win championships, but it might just save a career.
Rip City deserves to enjoy the ride. Just do not tell them how the Blazers are actually going to defend anyone.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
