The Portland Trail Blazers were among the teams that made a splash this offseason, as they acquired Ja Morant from the Memphis Grizzlies on June 29. Morant has since linked up with his new Trail Blazers teammates at the Summer League, and he expressed his excitement about the move during his first media availability on Saturday.
“Super excited,” Morant said, via the Trail Blazers. “Obviously excited to be in Portland, ready to get started there. Definitely grateful for my time in Memphis. That’ll always be home for me, but yeah, it’s time to get to work now.”
The Grizzlies had selected Morant with the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Trading him away would have been unthinkable four or five years ago, but it seemed inevitable for months now.
The Grizzlies ultimately traded Morant to the Trail Blazers for just Jerami Grant and Kris Murray. While they didn’t give up much, the 26-year-old is joining a backcourt that is already a little bit crowded. The Trail Blazers have Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, and Scoot Henderson.
Deni Avdija is a ball-dominant player, too, and Morant, who averaged 19.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 8.1 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game in 2025-26, was asked how he sees his fit with his new team.
“I mean, I love it,” Morant said. “I feel like all those guys you name probably will most likely unlock new parts of my game. And I feel like I can do the same for them. I don’t feel like it’ll be a problem having us on the floor or making sure minutes match or anything. I feel like we all very unselfish and the ultimate goal is to win, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Morant quite surprisingly also said he doesn’t care whether he starts or comes off the bench. He admitted he needed a fresh start and is looking forward to this opportunity.
As for the past, despite how things ended, Morant expressed nothing but love to the Grizzlies and to the city of Memphis.
“I feel obviously it’s some that might say bad things or whatever about me, but I don’t look at it as hate or anything,” Morant said. “I just feel it’s tough love to a family member. As I would say, I feel I have family members that do the same thing. So I love Memphis, I love the fans, I love the organization, my teammates.
“I feel everybody that I was real connected with obviously reached out after the trade, and they all just wished me the best, and it was the same for me,” Morant added.
In his seven seasons with the Grizzlies, Morant led the team to the playoffs four times. He won ROTY in 2020 and MIP in 2022. He also made two All-Star teams and one All-NBA team.
It’s a shame how things went so horribly wrong in Memphis. Morant should have been the face of that Grizzlies franchise for over a decade. Sadly, he only has himself to blame.
It all started going wrong for Morant after he flashed a gun on Instagram Live at a nightclub in March 2023. The NBA would suspend him for eight games for the act, citing conduct detrimental to the league.
You’d have imagined Morant learned his lesson then, but he didn’t. In May 2023, he flashed a gun on his friend’s Instagram Live. As you’d expect, the NBA came down much harder for this one, as he was given a 25-game suspension to start the 2023-24 season.
Morant would only make his season debut in December 2023 as a result, but the injury bug then struck. He needed season-ending right shoulder surgery after playing just nine games.
Injuries would continue to be a problem for Morant after this, and his play started to decline as a result. Then this past season in November, the Grizzlies suspended the guard for one game after a heated confrontation with head coach Tuomas Iisalo. The relationship between the player and team had already worsened over time with all that had happened, and this appeared to be the final nail in the coffin.
With the Grizzlies also entering a rebuild, trading Morant was definitely the right move. Now, this incident with Lisalo is the only controversy surrounding Morant in the last couple of years, and some would argue it’s not even that. He’s mostly kept it clean for a while now.
So, when Morant was asked here what the biggest misconception about him is, he pointed to his image. He thinks people incorrectly view him as a bad guy.
“I’ve done what I’ve done in the past, but it’s been addressed and handled already,” Morant said. “I don’t see why, years later, that’s still the topic when nothing’s happened since. And I feel like if I was that guy, y’all wouldn’t be talking to me now. I wouldn’t be here.”
It’s clear Morant intends to stay out of trouble now. The Trail Blazers might be getting the best version of him off the court, but the question is, what about on it? Can Morant get back to playing at an All-Star and All-NBA level? Only time will tell.
