Ja Morant Traded to Trail Blazers — Grizzlies Get Jerami Grant
- Jul 3
- 4 min read
The Memphis Grizzlies have officially closed the book on the Ja Morant era. In one of the most seismic moves of a wild 2026 NBA offseason, Memphis traded its two-time All-Star point guard to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for veteran forward Jerami Grant, young wing Kris Murray and $1 million in cash considerations. The deal sends one of the league's most electrifying — and most scrutinized — players to the Pacific Northwest, where Portland is betting that a change of scenery can unlock the superstar version of Morant that once had Memphis dreaming of championships.
The trade caps a stunning teardown in Memphis. Since being swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the 2025 playoffs, the Grizzlies have now moved on from all three of their former franchise cornerstones: Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr. and now Morant. What was once one of the NBA's most promising young cores has been fully dismantled in barely a calendar year, with the front office clearly choosing a long-term rebuild over another run with a group that repeatedly fell short in the Western Conference playoffs.
For Portland, the calculus is entirely different. The Trail Blazers are pushing their timeline forward, and they now plan to roll out a starting group built around Morant, Damian Lillard and Deni Avdija. It is a fascinating gamble: pairing Morant's downhill explosiveness and rim pressure with Lillard's deep shooting gravity gives Portland one of the most dynamic offensive backcourts on paper anywhere in the league. The fit questions — two ball-dominant guards, defensive concerns, health — are real, but so is the upside.
Morant arrives in Portland with two years and roughly $87 million remaining on his maximum rookie extension, which gives the Blazers a meaningful runway to evaluate the partnership before any long-term decision looms. He has also already made one symbolic change: Morant will wear No. 2 in Portland after wearing No. 12 throughout his career in Memphis, a small but deliberate signal that he views this move as a fresh start.
The résumé remains dazzling. Morant, the 2020 NBA Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Star, has averaged 22.4 points per game for his career while producing some of the most jaw-dropping highlights of his generation. At his peak during the 2021-22 season, he was named Most Improved Player, finished with All-NBA honors and dragged Memphis to the No. 2 seed in the West. When healthy and locked in, he is a top-tier offensive engine who bends defenses like few players alive.
The concerns are just as well documented. Morant has appeared in only 79 games over the last three seasons, a stretch marred by shoulder and other injuries as well as two league suspensions stemming from off-court incidents in 2023. That combination of availability and reliability questions is exactly why a player of his caliber was attainable for a package headlined by a 32-year-old forward and a young role player rather than a war chest of first-round picks.
From Memphis' perspective, the return is about flexibility more than star power. Jerami Grant, 32, gives the Grizzlies a veteran scoring forward with one year left on his deal before a $36 million player option for 2027-28 — a contract that could itself be rerouted before the deadline. Kris Murray, 25, is a low-cost wing who will be a restricted free agent next summer. Add in the cash and the cap relief, and Memphis has effectively converted its franchise player into breathing room for the next chapter.
The move also lands in the middle of an unprecedented NBA offseason. In the span of days, LeBron James informed the Lakers he intends to play elsewhere, Boston traded Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia for Paul George, and Milwaukee sent Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami in a blockbuster of its own. Against that backdrop, a two-time All-Star changing teams almost feels routine — but for two fanbases, this one changes everything.
In Portland, the pairing with Lillard carries extra intrigue. Lillard, back home with the franchise where he became a legend, now gets the most talented backcourt partner of his career. The Blazers' young core — Avdija, Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Donovan Clingan — suddenly has a hierarchy and a headliner. How coach Chauncey Billups staggers the guards, and whether Henderson's role shrinks or shifts, will be one of the most-watched storylines of training camp.
There is also the question of what Morant himself needs from this move. He turns 27 in August, squarely in what should be his prime. The suspensions, the injuries and the losing in Memphis had dimmed some of the shine on one of the league's brightest young stars. Portland offers a smaller media market, a locker room with established veteran leadership and a franchise desperate enough for relevance to hand him the keys alongside Lillard. If there was ever a landing spot designed for a reset, this is it.
For the Grizzlies, the path forward is clear if unglamorous: accumulate assets, develop young talent and lean into the draft. Memphis fans will not soon forget what Morant meant to the city — the poster dunks, the playoff runs, the swagger that made FedExForum one of the loudest buildings in the league. But the franchise has decided the future looks different, and there is no going back now.
The Western Conference just got even more interesting. If Morant stays healthy and buys in, Portland could vault from the lottery into the playoff mix in a hurry — and a Lillard-Morant backcourt is instantly appointment television. If not, the Blazers have risked relatively little to find out. Either way, one of the NBA's most fascinating careers just began its second act, 2,300 miles from where it started.
Comments