The Ja Morant era in Memphis is officially over. The Grizzlies traded their two-time All-Star point guard to the Portland Trail Blazers for Jerami Grant, Kris Murray, and $1 million in cash. It is one of the most surprising major moves of the offseason, and also one that has been coming for a while.
Morant, still only 26, was Memphis’s franchise cornerstone from the moment he was drafted second overall in 2019. When healthy and locked in, he was one of the ten most electric players in the league. That is not a small compliment. He put the Grizzlies on the national map and turned FedExForum into one of the loudest buildings in the league during their peak.
Health, though, has been a problem. So have the off-court incidents. The list has been well-documented and does not need another recap. What matters for this trade is that Morant’s value around the league had quietly slipped from “core star” to “reclamation project” over the last two years, and the Grizzlies acknowledged that reality by taking Grant and Murray back.
Morant is under contract through 2027-28. He is currently in year four of a 5-year, $197 million designated rookie extension. That is a lot of money for a team hoping he can rediscover the version of himself that averaged 27 points per game before all the injuries and suspensions.
The Blazers are officially building around Scoot Henderson, Deni Avdija, and Donovan Clingan, but a Morant-Henderson backcourt is not a natural fit unless one of them slides off the ball more often. That is a challenge Chauncey Billups now gets to solve. Morant is more talented, but Henderson is younger and cheaper. Somebody’s role changes.
Portland’s bet is that a change of scenery is worth the risk. Their front office has been aggressive in reshaping the roster after years of dead-end Damian Lillard-adjacent drift. Adding a former All-Star with All-NBA upside is exactly the kind of high-variance swing a rebuilding team should be taking.
For Memphis, this is a full pivot. Grant is a professional scorer who can play either forward spot. Murray is a role-player wing with a stretch element. The Grizzlies are betting on their remaining core, led by Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane, and freeing themselves from the Morant contract long-term.
The Grizzlies had already started to shift their culture over the last year. This move confirms the direction. They are done waiting for the version of Morant that showed up in 2022. They are trying to build something more stable.
There will be a version of Morant that reappears in a Blazers jersey and reminds everyone what he can do at his best. That is what makes this trade so hard to grade in real time. If he stays healthy and locked in, Portland just stole one. If he does not, the Blazers gave up two useful players for a headache.
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.
