Memphis finally moved on. In June, the Grizzlies traded Ja Morant to the Portland Trail Blazers for Jerami Grant, Kris Murray, and $1 million in cash considerations.
Read that return again. A two-time All-Star point guard for a 32-year-old forward, a bench wing, and a million bucks.
That is not a rebuild package. There are no first-round picks in it. Memphis did not get young prospects with upside. The Grizzlies took salary and role players and called it a day, which tells you exactly how the rest of the league valued Morant by the time this deal came together.
Grant averaged 18.6 points and 3.5 rebounds last season in Portland. He is a useful player who can score in isolation and defend multiple positions. He also signed a five-year deal with the Blazers and holds a player option for 2027-28, which means Memphis is absorbing real money for a guy who does not move the franchise forward.
Murray put up 5.8 points and 3.6 rebounds and hits restricted free agency next offseason. The former Iowa forward and twin brother of Sacramento’s Keegan Murray is a fine end-of-rotation piece. He is not the centerpiece of anything.
Morant has two years and roughly $87 million left on his maximum rookie extension. That contract is a big part of why the market was thin. Teams were being asked to bet nine figures on a player whose Memphis tenure ended under a cloud of off-court controversy and injury absences.
Portland made the bet anyway, and I think it was the right call.
The Blazers now put Morant alongside Deni Avdija, Jrue Holiday, and Damian Lillard. That is a crowded backcourt on paper, but Holiday and Lillard both bring the kind of veteran presence that a 27-year-old with Morant’s history could actually use. Portland is not asking him to be the culture. They already have one.
The basketball fit is where it gets interesting. Morant at his best is a downhill nightmare who bends defenses in ways almost nobody in the league can. Pair him with Avdija’s size and passing on the wing and the Blazers have something you cannot easily prepare for. Portland was starved for that kind of gravity.
The risk is obvious. If Morant’s body does not hold up, or if the off-court issues resurface, Portland is stuck with $87 million and nothing to show for it. But the Blazers gave up two players they could replace. The downside here is a wasted cap sheet, not a mortgaged future.
Memphis is the side that should be uncomfortable. The Grizzlies had a franchise-altering talent, watched his value crater, and then sold at the bottom without securing a single draft pick. Front offices exist to avoid exactly that outcome.
You can argue Memphis needed the divorce for locker room reasons, and maybe that is true. Sometimes the return does not matter because the situation was untenable. But if the goal was value, this was a failure.
Here is my prediction. Morant plays 65 games in Portland, averages north of 22 a night, and reminds everyone why he was must-watch television in 2022. He does it for a team that finishes around .500 and fights for a play-in spot.
And Memphis, watching from a lottery seat with Jerami Grant on the books, will wonder why they did not ask for a pick.
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.
