Мемфис Гриззлис багийн гол тоглогч Жа Морантыг Портлэнд Трэйл Блэйзэрс рүү солилцоогоор явууллаа.
Мемфис Гриззлис 26 настай холбон тоглогч Жа Морантыг Портлэнд Трэйл Блэйзэрс рүү илгээж, хариуд нь Жерами Грант болон Крис Мюррей нарыг авахаар тохиролцлоо. Энэхүү солилцоо нь Мемфис Гриззлис багийн хувьд Жа Морант, Жарен Жэксон Жр., Дезмонд Бэйн нараас бүрдсэн “гурвал” тарж буйг албан ёсоор баталгаажуулж байна. Жа Морантын хувьд сүүлийн гурван улиралд гэмтэл болон сахилгын асуудлаас шалтгаалан ердөө 79 тоглолтод оролцсон ч Портлэнд Трэйл Блэйзэрс түүнийг багтаа нэгтгэснээр бага эрсдэлтэй, өндөр үр дүн хүлээх боломжтой боллоо.
Портлэнд Трэйл Блэйзэрс багийн хувьд Дэмиан Лиллард, Жрю Холидэй, Скут Хэндэрсон нартай хамт Жа Морантыг нэмж байгаа нь гарааны бүрэлдэхүүнээ хүчирхэгжүүлэх зорилготой юм. Хэдийгээр Жа Морант өнгөрсөн улиралд 20 тоглолтод оролцож, шидэлтийн хувь муутай байсан ч түүний будагтай талбай руу нэвтрэх чадвар болон дамжуулалт нь багийн довтолгоонд нөлөө үзүүлнэ гэж үзэж байна. Тэрээр 87 сая ам.долларын үнэ бүхий хоёр жилийн гэрээтэй тул багт дарамт учруулахгүй.
Мемфис Гриззлис багийн хувьд энэ солилцоо нь багийг бүрэн шинэчлэх, залуу тоглогчдоо хөгжүүлэх зорилгыг агуулж байна. Жерами Грант хоёр жилийн гэрээтэй бөгөөд хэрэв амжилттай тогловол баг түүнийг ирээдүйд өөр солилцоонд ашиглах боломжтой. Гэсэн хэдий ч энэ удаагийн наймааг шинжээчид Мемфис Гриззлис багийн хувьд хангалтгүй үр дүн гэж дүгнэж байна.
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The Ja Morant era is over in Memphis.
The Grizzlies couldn’t find a market for the 26-year-old last season, but that has changed as we enter free agency. The Portland Trail Blazers are sending Jerami Grant and Kris Murray to the Grizzlies in exchange for the two-time All-Star, one-time All-NBA point guard. ESPN first reported the deal.
The Blazers now have a lot of guards to play, and I’m not sure how many of them you can play together, but that’s not a bad problem to have in June. That’s something you figure out later this summer or early next season. What does this mean for the Blazers? Did the Grizzlies get enough? Let’s bust out the red ink and put some grades on this trade.
Blazers acquire Ja Morant
This is a pretty interesting trade. The Blazers don’t exactly need lead guards. They have Jrue Holiday for two more years (the second year is a player option). They have Damian Lillard for two more years (the second year is a player option). And they have Scoot Henderson for at least one more year — he’s extension eligible until the start of the season — before he potentially hits restricted free agency next summer.
Adding Morant to that group seems to signal a couple of things.
- The Blazers have wanted a star since they traded Lillard before the 2023-24 season. Lillard returned after he tore his Achilles and was waived by Milwaukee, but he’s about to turn 36, and there’s no way of knowing whether he can return to his pre-injury star form. Holiday recently turned 36 and probably serves the roster better as an off-guard who can play some point and definitely plays defense. Getting Morant when his trade value is apparently at its lowest without having to give up actual assets and/or draft capital could be a pretty big deal.
- I’m not sure Portland believes in Henderson. He’s been dealing with injury issues and has not exactly lived up to the pre-draft hype. It doesn’t mean he’s out, but there is zero incentive to invest a big salary number or a lot of years in him right now. The Blazers can let him play out the season as the backup to Morant and Lillard, and then see if there’s a market for him in restricted free agency.
Ja Morant’s Top 5 Moments with the Memphis Grizzles
Regardless, Morant gets to rehab his image as a star guard in Portland. He’ll only be 27 years old when next season starts, and not that long ago he was one of the brightest stars in the NBA. However, injuries and controversies cratered how people think about him. Due to suspensions and injuries, he’s only played in 79 games over the last three seasons.
When he did play, he could still give a team 23-25 points per game, but we saw him really struggle to have an impact this past season, when he played just 20 games. His shooting was by far the worst of his career. If he still has his athletic burst to get into the lane over and over while remaining healthy, he creates a lot of pressure on the interior of the defense. He’s still a very good playmaker for others. He will probably start next to Lillard and do a lot of setting up him andDeni Avdija.
Morant is only signed for two more seasons for a total of about $87 million. If this trade doesn’t work out for Portland, he can probably walk without them feeling too terrible about losing him. It’s reasonable to question if a player of Morant’s athleticism and lack of outside shooting can be effective in today’s game when he’s constantly battling injuries. But the Blazers are giving themselves a potentially high reward with a pretty marginal risk.
Grade: B+
Grizzlies acquire Jerami Grant, Kris Murray
We wondered, “Is that it?” when the Atlanta Hawks traded Trae Young for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, and that kind of feels like where a lot of reactions for this return for Memphis will go immediately.
Grant has two years left on his deal at 32 years old, although the second season is a player option. If he plays defense and knocks down shots, he could be a guy the Grizzlies flip at the trade deadline, either this season or next season. Murray shouldn’t really be a rotation guy and likely won’t find minutes with the wings and young players the Grizzlies have on the perimeter. Unlike the Kispert addition in Atlanta, Murray is an abysmal outside shooter.
This trade is just about moving on from their era of Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane as Memphis’ big three. Bane was traded last summer for four first-round picks, a pick swap and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Jackson was dealt to Utah at the trade deadline for three first-round picks and a couple of young players. The Grizzlies have certainly acquired a lot of draft capital and even turned some of that into acquisitions of Cedric Coward and Karim López in the last two drafts.
With this move, they aren’t receiving much at all, so it’s hard to have anything tangible to applaud them for. It needed to be done, but they’re getting next to nothing for Morant. That changes a bit if Grant is flipped for something more valuable. The solace is that the Grizzlies are now completely focused on player development and seeing where this roster goes in a couple of years. They have a lot of picks to use either in the draft or via trade. They just don’t receive any of that capital from this trade. Get that tribute video ready!
Grade: C-
