The Memphis Grizzlies have finally rid themselves of point guard Ja Morant, sending him to the Portland Trail Blazers in a blockbuster trade that’s been years in the making.
“BREAKING: The Memphis Grizzlies are trading two-time NBA All-Star Ja Morant to the Portland Trail Blazers for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray, sources tell ESPN,” ESPN’s Shams Charania wrote on his official X account on Monday.
Morant, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, was once considered the future face of the entire league but saw his career derailed by off-court issues and injuries.
In March 2023, Morant was suspended for 8 games after a video surfaced of him brandishing a firearm while intoxicated inside a Denver-area nightclub.
Just 2 months later, Morant was in another video brandishing another firearm and was suspended for 25 games — costing him approximately $7.6 million in salary. The Grizzlies signed Morant to a 5-year, $197.23 contract extension in July 2022 — a deal that still has 2 years remaining on it.
In the 3 seasons since his suspensions, Morant has only played in 72 out of a possible 246 regular-season games — including just 9 games in 2023-24 and 20 games in 2025-26.
When Morant was healthy — and staying out of trouble — he was 1 of the NBA’s most electric and popular players. Morant averaged over 25.0 points per game for 3 consecutive seasons from 2021 to 2024, including a career-high 27.4 points in 2021-22.
Morant was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2020, a 2-time NBA All-Star, and All-NBA Team pick in 2022, when he was also named NBA Most Improved Player.
Grant averaged 18.6 points for the Blazers in 2025-26.
“Acquiring Ja Morant feels like a set-up trade to me given all the Jaylen Brown rumors in Portland,” Yahoo Sports NBA reporter Kevin O’Connor wrote on his official X account on Monday. “Now the Blazers could feel more comfortable sending Jrue Holiday, Scoot Henderson, and Shaedon Sharpe with draft picks to Boston for Jaylen Brown. We’ll see what happens.”
Morant’s Famous Quote: ‘I’m Fine in the West’
By trading Morant to the Trail Blazers, Morant gets to stay in the conference he’s tied to famously by a quote from a 1-on-1 interview in December 2022 in which he was asked if he was worried about any teams in the Western Conference.
“Nah, I’m fine in the West,” Morant said, smirking.
Just 3 months later, Morant’s career would start to become undone due to his suspensions.
The Grizzlies were coming off an appearance in the Western Conference Semifinals when Morant made his infamous declaration. They’ve lost in the 1st round twice since then, and missed the playoffs after going 25-67 this season.
Reactions Pour in Following Trade to Blazers
Morant, 1 of the most well-known basketball players in the world, ended up getting a pretty paltry return on investment when a long-awaited trade finally went down — a deal that included the Grizzlies receiving no draft picks back in return.
That’s not to mention the fact that the Blazers drafted a point guard with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft in Scoot Henderson, who is projected not to receive a rookie contract extension offer this summer.
“The Portland Trail Blazers envision a starting backcourt of Damian Lillard and Ja Morant alongside Deni Avdija on the wing,” NBA reporter Chris Haynes wrote on his official X account. “A very unconventional move that the franchise believes has upside. Ja Morant gets his fresh start. Jerami Grant and Kris Murray off to Memphis.”
“The Sacramento Kings were eyeing the possibility of adding Ja Morant dating back to the last NBA trade deadline, but drafting Darius Acuff, Jr., recently cooled that talk,” NBA reporter Marc J. Spears wrote on his official X account.
Blazers Land Grizzlies Superstar Ja Morant in Blockbuster Trade