Ja Morant's seven-year tenure with the Memphis Grizzlies has ended this offseason after he was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers.
On June 29, Portland announced that it had acquired Morant in exchange for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray. During his time in Memphis, Morant helped the Grizzlies reach the playoffs four times. However, the two-time NBA All-Star's stint was complicated by off-court issues.
In his first comments since his trade to the Trail Blazers, Morant addressed his perceived reputation as a "bad guy."
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Morant had a couple of much-publicized incidents in 2023, which stemmed from him showing a firearm during a social media livestream. He was suspended for eight games in March 2023 after the NBA deemed his conduct as "detrimental to the league."
Morant was then slapped with a 25-game ban after a repeat of the incident two months later. He served the suspension at the start of the 2023-24 season.
Ja Morant was also in the headlines early last season after reports emerged of his alleged rift with Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo. In November, Memphis suspended him for one game due to "conduct detrimental to the team."
Ja Morant will join a Portland Trail Blazers team that has a guard-heavy lineup in Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. In addition, 2026 NBA All-Star Deni Avdija, who is listed at 6-foot-8, is regarded as a "point-forward," as he was mostly the team's primary ballhandler last season.
In the same interview on Saturday during the Summer League in Las Vegas, Morant said there shouldn't be any issue with Portland's backcourt rotation. According to ESPN's Ben Golliver, he is "willing" to either start or come off the bench.
Ja Morant's final season with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2025-26 was limited to just 20 games because of several injuries. But he was still productive when healthy, as he averaged 19.5 points and 8.1 assists per game.
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