Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies may be about to ride out their current rough patch together.
The Grizzlies are looking to continue building around their star point guard Ja Morant, veteran NBA writer Jake Fischer reported to Substack on Thursday. Fischer also notes that Memphis would also like to continue building around big man Jaren Jackson Jr, the ex-Defensive Player of the Year, as well.
This news comes with the Grizzlies floundering at 4-9 on the year, which is 11th in the Western Conference. Morant, who has been with Memphis for his entire career, appears disgruntled with the team and was recently suspended after a confrontation with Grizzlies head coach Tuomas Iisalo. A subsequent report also claimed that Morant “hates” playing for Iisalo, who is in his first full season on the job.
Still only 26 years old, the two-time All-Star Morant had his fair share of troubles in Memphis over the years. In addition to being suspended multiple times by the NBA for flashing weapons over social media, Morant was already reported to be at odds with the Grizzlies as early as last season.
As it stands right now, Morant, who is averaging 18.9 points and 7.3 assists per game this season, is under contract with Memphis through 2028. He signed a five-year, $197.2 million designated rookie max extension before the 2022-23 campaign and is now in the third year of that deal.
The rumors of Morant’s discontent resulted in multiple Western Conference rivals being linked to him recently. But at least on Memphis’ end, they still appear to be committed to making their partnership with Morant work.
