Seven Years, One Fresh Start: How the Ja Morant Trade to Portland Happened and What It Means for Everyone Involved

Seven Years, One Fresh Start: How the Ja Morant Trade to Portland Happened and What It Means for Everyone Involved

The Memphis Grizzlies traded two-time All-Star Ja Morant to the Portland Trail Blazers for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray — completing the dismantling of their championship-window core by moving the last of three former franchise cornerstones (alongside Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr.) after Morant played just 20 games last season at career-low efficiency and his relationship with the organization deteriorated under new coach Tuomas Iisalo. Portland acquires a 26-year-old with career averages of 22.4 points and 7.4 assists for nothing more than salary matching — no draft picks — while inheriting a genuine fit question in a backcourt already crowded with Damian Lillard, Scoot Henderson, and Jrue Holiday. Memphis pivots fully to a new era built around No. 3 draft pick Cameron Boozer. We break down every element of the trade, the fit concerns, and who won.

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Seven Years, One Fresh Start: How the Ja Morant Trade to Portland Happened and What It Means for Everyone Involved

He was the face of Memphis basketball. He was a two-time All-Star. He was also a player who had played 79 games in three seasons and whose relationship with the Grizzlies had broken down so completely that they traded away every other piece of their championship core just to move on. Now he is a Blazer — and Portland is betting everything on what he used to be.

The Memphis Grizzlies are trading two-time All-Star Ja Morant to the Portland Trail Blazers for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray. The Grizzlies have now traded all three of their former franchise cornerstones — Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. since being swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the 2025 playoffs. Once considered one of the league's most talented young cores, the Grizzlies ended up winning only one series in four playoff appearances with that trio on the roster. Memphis now enters a new era, headlined by Cameron Boozer, the No. 3 pick in the 2026 draft.

The deal was announced Monday morning, June 29, 2026 less than a week after the NBA Draft, in the frantic opening hours of what has already been the most trade-heavy offseason in recent memory. It lands as one of the most fascinating buy-low acquisitions any team has made in the salary-cap era, with the potential to look either brilliant or catastrophic depending on a single variable that nobody in Portland, Memphis, or anywhere else can accurately predict: whether Ja Morant can still be the player he was in 2022.

Why Memphis Finally Said Goodbye

The Morant saga in Memphis did not end quietly or cleanly. Morant has played only 79 games in three seasons because of off-court issues and injuries since his second consecutive All-Star appearance in 2023. Some of Morant's absences in recent years have been due to league-issued suspensions. He served an eight-game ban in March 2023 and a 25-game suspension to open the 2023-24 season, both of which stemmed from incidents of him displaying a firearm on an Instagram live stream. Morant has also dealt with a variety of injuries over the past three years, including shoulder and elbow ailments that required season-ending surgeries.

Morant's production dipped to 19.5 points while shooting career lows of 41.0% from the field and 23.5% from the three-point line in the 20 games he played last season. He was injured before the deadline and did not play again the rest of the season. The combination of availability issues, declining efficiency, and a deteriorated organizational relationship — exacerbated when Morant publicly questioned how he was being used under new Grizzlies head coach Tuomas Iisalo early last season — made a separation inevitable. The Grizzlies went just 25-57 last season. The franchise then selected Duke star Cameron Boozer with the No. 3 overall pick in the NBA Draft. Boozer averaged 22.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game with the Blue Devils last season as a freshman. Memphis is moving on. Completely and deliberately.

What Portland Is Getting — and What They're Risking

Morant, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, won Rookie of the Year with the Grizzlies in 2020 and was the NBA's Most Improved Player in 2022. He was, for the beginning of that Memphis tenure, one of the NBA's best downhill scoring forces and looked like he was on track to become one of the faces of the NBA. But injuries over the years sapped him of much of his power as a driver. He never developed a reliable three-point shot or became a consistently impactful defender.

The case for Portland's optimism rests on age and potential. Morant, who turns 27 in August, and the Blazers basically got him for an expiring Murray contract and Grant's deal to match salaries. Portland did not have to include any draft picks. This is pretty good value for a player who has averaged 22.4 points and 7.4 assists per game throughout his career.

Morant will now get to join a Trail Blazers franchise that went 42-40 and made the playoffs last season despite head coach Chauncey Billups' arrest and departure last fall. He'll get to team up with star Deni Avdija, Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard in Portland. The concern about fit is real and immediate. The greater risk for the Trail Blazers might be how their new acquisition fits in over the long term. The Blazers are going for a bulk approach to the position — with Morant, Damian Lillard, Scoot Henderson and Jrue Holiday all capable of playing point guard. Other than the defensively sound, positionally malleable Holiday, those players don't make much sense playing next to each other.

There are real questions about the fit in Portland, but if Morant can get back on track, this is a buy-low move for a player with superstar talent. So how did both sides do in the trade? The charitable read on this for the Blazers is that they acquired a somewhat recent All-NBA-level talent effectively for nothing. Kris Murray was a nice defensive wing, but he was extension-eligible and unlikely to factor much into the team's future given his shooting woes.

Memphis got Grant and Murray — a 32-year-old veteran forward who averaged 18.6 points per game last season and could serve as an attractive trade chip for a contender at a future deadline, alongside a developing wing. Not a haul, but an efficient move for a team that was always going to get less than market value for a player whose availability and off-court history had devalued his trade return for years.

Morant has two years and approximately $87 million left on his contract. He joins a young Blazers team fresh off of its first playoff appearance since 2021 and headlined by breakout star Deni Avdija. A fresh start, new management, and a supporting cast capable of winning. Whether the player who was once the most electric young force in basketball can reclaim even a portion of that form is the single most compelling question of the entire 2026 NBA offseason.

Trade details: Memphis Grizzlies receive Jerami Grant (32, PF, 18.6 PPG last season) and Kris Murray (RFA). Portland Trail Blazers receive Ja Morant (2x All-Star, 26 years old, 22.4 career PPG, 7.4 APG). No draft picks exchanged. Morant contract: 2 years, approximately $87 million remaining. Morant 2025-26: 20 games, 19.5 PPG, 8.1 APG, 41% FG (career lows). Portland 2025-26 record: 42-40, first playoff appearance since 2021. Memphis enters new era built around No. 3 pick Cameron Boozer.