Key Points
- Memphis traded two-time All-Star Ja Morant to Portland for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray
- Morant has two years and about $87 million left on his maximum rookie extension
- Grant has one year left before a $36 million player option; Murray hits restricted free agency
- Memphis has now moved all three former cornerstones — Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr.
The Memphis Grizzlies have finished dismantling the core that carried them from the lottery to a No. 1 seed. The franchise is trading two-time All-Star Ja Morant to the Portland Trail Blazers for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray, sources told ESPN on Monday, ending a seven-year run that was as turbulent off the court as it was electric on it.
Portland takes on the bigger bet and the bigger contract: Morant has two years and roughly $87 million left on his maximum rookie extension. Memphis gets two rotation pieces in return — Grant, 32, who has one year left on his deal before a $36 million player option for 2027-28, and Murray, who is set for restricted free agency next summer. For the Grizzlies, the appeal is a clean reset; for the Blazers, it is a chance to buy low on a former MVP-caliber guard and wager that his health returns.
That health is the whole question. Morant played just 20 games last season before a left-elbow UCL sprain ended it, the latest in a run of 50-, nine-, and 20-game seasons since his 2021-22 breakout, and the on-court absences came alongside suspensions and off-court controversy. Memphis explored the market at the February deadline and found little; opting to move him now, in the same window that has the Lakers paying Austin Reaves $185 million and the Warriors reshaping their books, completes a teardown that has now sent out all three of the cornerstones — Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr. — who took the Grizzlies from worst to first. The reset is total, and the team that just two years ago looked like the West's next contender is starting over.
Update (July 9, 2026): Nike has since unveiled Morant's Ja 4 'Nightmare'.
Source: ESPN, CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated
Comments