[Windhorst] When I say [Ja Morant] has no value, I don’t even think that’s accurate. I think he has what they call in the league, negative value. Meaning teams weren’t willing to take Ja Morant unless the Grizzlies also added draft compensation
When Vivek’s Kings are asking for a pick to take on Ja, you know your value is cooked.
Ja will find a way to hang out in Stockton when his house is in Rocklin
Never thought I’d see a mention of Stockton on here. He would for sure end up in South Sac or South Stockton for sure.
I’m in the northeast and I can say that Stockton was made relatively famous by the Diaz bros. Stockton Slap and all.
Stockton is famous for being the first city in California to not have a Spanish name and also the biggest city to go bankrupt in the state.
It was the largest city in the county to go bankrupt at the time, until Detroit came along.
Also, first city to try out Universal Basic Income… so thats a positive
That’s literally what people tell me every time I tell them I’m from Stockton. Funny enough I have met Nate before and he is exactly what you’d expect him to be like.
This dude would definitely try to get in with Mozzy’s old boys.
Damn that’s a bar (NorCal homies will know)
Shout out my Yuba-Sutter homies still playing soccer under the bridge
Ja out in Oak Park.
Man how did we get here. I thought was going to be the mvp one day
He was unbelievable
Absolute immaturity.
Gilbert Arenas Jr.
Even Gilbert wasn’t stupid enough to come back from suspension and do gun/bazooka celebrations. Ja is some special kind of person
I think it’s that combined with how injury prone he is. If Ja had been playing this whole time almost nobody would give a fuck about what he was doing or saying, and it might even get glamorized a bit. But when you barely play for 3 years this looks much worse.
how much of that was suspensions?
Looked it up only 25 games in 2023-24
Dudes such a dumbass, lost so much money cuz he’d rather be hard lmao
That and alcoholism.
Yup gets it from his enabling ass “father”. You can tell they both got a partying problem.
Also completely reliant on athleticism and that doesn’t pair well with small guards. The only one I can think of who is reliant on athleticism and had a long career is Westbrook.
He thought he arrived, so he stopped working on his game, and worked on being Clarence from Cranbrook
Jarence
To be fair, he’s still unbelievable, just in a different way
He can’t seem to stay healthy longer than a week and his inability to shoot is as glaring as ever. He’s also owed almost 90 million (not counting this season) until 2028 so it’s a hard pass for most.
Ja is afflicted with a condition called Dumbassitus Absolutus. He’s literally too stupid to function.
Hubris
They thought they could fleece us, but no!
No one fools the Kings 20 years in a row!
Somebody check the temperature in hell, it must be subzero if the Kings aren’t getting fleeced.
I really think if Westbrook didn’t pan out for the Kings then we’d be seeing Ja light the beam right about now. Westbrook doing an invaluable service for the Kings and the greater Sacramento area this year.
Memphis GM: “counter offer: YOU send another pick to San Antonio to facilitate a trade for our player?”
Vivek: “holy shit, you’re right!”
Ja morant games played over the last 3 seasons: 79
Chandler parsons games played as a Grizzly (3 seasons): 95
BIG oof, now that’s perspective haha
Finesse king Chandler parsons?
Not really a finesse, the guy got hit by a car after signing and then had to retire early
He got hit by a car his last year in the league with Atlanta, he finessed a bunch of money from the grizzlies before then
I mean to be fair, the Grizz signed him to that contract after he got microfracture surgery, they finessed themselves
You’re right looks like it was a series of knee injuries when he was in Memphis that kept him out and then the accident was later, had my timeline mixed up
You know not of what you speak
You ain’t need to do all that, bro. That is an incredible stat.
Yea idk why I picked him in fantasy this year
That’s why you aren’t a GM for a professional sports team. Keep at it. You will get there some day.
that’s why I play Fantasy, because I know if I can just clinch the Consolation bracket then I’ll get a DM from Gayle to come save the Pelicans.
I can tell you: Iisalos playing style is actually very point-guard-centric and high paced, his PGs on his european teams absolutely flourished and put up great numbers. I thought Morant would resurrect his career, too, it would have been the perfect system to make him look good. But of course this guy wasn’t even smart enough to buy into that. And then there were the injuries. He’s a lost case.
Why would you pick Chandler Parsons? Dude hasn’t played in a donkey’s age.
Because Memphis’s most hated individuals are Andre iguodala then chandler parsons. And maybe Ja next.
But Ja has been genuinely worse for us in this contract than parsons was during his. I would argue Ja should be #2.
Part of that is the suspension, which you can designate as a fluke. Even removing that year entirely, he’s still only averaged under 60 games a season for his career. Assuming this holds steady, you’re paying him 42 and 45 million for next year and the year after for maybe 120 games. Just a complete negative value for a prospect with decreasing effectiveness.
EDIT: If you account for his suspension, since coming into the NBA, Ja has averaged fewer games a season than notable iron men Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard, while averaging 2 games more per year than Joel Embiid.
The issue is the suspensions was for something completely preventable. Like if Tatum tore his Achilles again, that would be a massive case of bad luck.
If Ja Morant got suspended again for doing something stupid, it there probably would have been step to prevent him from getting suspended.
And Tatum would completely understandably have an injury prone asterisk after Achilles #2. If I’m a GM I’m never touching Ja. He’s the chaotic stupid alignment on the chart. Like we all know Derrick Rose was dumb and unfortunately injury prone, but he was more neutral and while he had some issues - you were moderately sure he wouldn’t tank his own path
That’s shocking actually
Damn
Yooooooo holy shit lol
Ya all the pearl clutching over his attitude, this is the crux of it. If he could still play, teams would be willing to be the one to “fix him” lol
Me, A Pels fan, just happy Ja exists so Zion isn’t the biggest bust of that draft.
As someone with negative value irl, I feel for Ja.
Would you like to come work for me? I only charge you $50 per hour
Yeah that’s a scam, it’s 50 an hour but he finishes in 2 minutes and you’re stuck there with the mess and on your knees
Reminds me of the video I saw about these places in China where you pay to fake work at a fake office
https://youtu.be/W7VJLipgiuQ
What a ripoff. I’ll only charge 60 to come work for me.
You both make attractive pitches, but I’m gonna let this bidding war play out for a bit
Already a better GM than Nico Harrison.
Please don’t treat yourself like this. You absolutely have positive value, don’t ever forget that
You don’t know him
Lmao this is real life for Ja 😂
My severe case of main character syndrome is a large part of the drag on my value.
Modern NBA isn’t kind to guards under 6’4, guards who can’t shoot, and injury prone players.
and even Trae who is way healthier and can shoot got traded for scraps
It would help if Trae wouldn’t shoot 34% from three, and wasn’t the worst defender in the league apart from Rob dillingham
Trae young still being labeled a shooter is one of the funnier NBA narratives to me. Dude hit some logo 3s early on his career and people labeled him a shooter despite the fact he’s been below average from 3 for 5⁄8 seasons and average for 2⁄8.
Because of his high usage rate and difficulty of shots. Luke Kennard isn’t being asked to ice out a game.
Yeah I don’t expect him to shoot 40% but he’s a career 35% shooter from 3. I think part of being a good shooter is shot selection as well, he forces things constantly.
But it’s funny because I think he’s a good scorer who isn’t a great shooter
His shooting is the only reason why he is a good scorer. If people sagged off him he would actually be useless. On a team like Atlanta you don’t have the privilege of just giving it off to someone else. I’m not saying he is some sort of amazing player but stats only work if you also look at the context of the stats.
Lillard is a career 37% shooter from 3. Does that make him a bad shooter?
On 7.5 attempts. Same as Harden basically. You dont know ball at all. AT ALL. Sit this one out homie
Trae also takes the hardest 3’s in the league, and 34% is the same as 51% from 2 which is fine especially given his volume - his ts% is always fine compared to other guards who score a lot if not good
Can you argue his shot selection is bad? Sure, but thats different from being a bad shooter
picking good shots is like the second most important thing when it comes to being a good shooter
Which is why he got traded for an expiring and not firsts
That said, I still think he is a better shooter than many people who have higher percentages due to his volume and willingness to shoot what is still an efficient shot at 34%
His TS% is fine because he gets to the line a lot. I said to a different comment but I think he’s a good scorer, but I don’t think he’s a good shooter. FWIW I think shot selection also should be factored into someone being a good shooter
I could go into this more in depth
Trae was a really good shooter a few years ago in his prime. Have injuries hampered him? Yeah, but I want to look deeper
Trae gets picked up way deeper by defenders now than before. This is due part to his ability to shoot from deep but majorly due to the fact that he has lost significant speed and cant beat people off the dribble anymore like he used to. This lack of threat off the bounce also means that he can not create separation for his own shot from 3 nearly as well as he used to
I think saying that Trae is bad from deep is unfair, but he does need to make changes to his game off ball in order to become a better shooter (which id why he got traded for CJ and Kispert)
However bad you think his shooting is, it’s way better than Ja’s.
Rob is an infinitely better defender than Trae. I know you’ve never watched him play but chill man.
It’s okay, dude. He can’t hurt you guys anymore.
I really hope he turns it around, but I’ve seen him a few times this season and he’s seemed hopelessly outmatched every time he’s been on the floor (which isn’t much, since Chris Finch would rather run the offense through Bones than even let Rob lace up his shoes). He’s undersized like Reed and has all Reed’s defensive weaknesses… except that Reed’s got quicker hands and can actually shoot.
I mean Trae and Luka are basically identical 3 point shooters for their careers, they’re fine given the volume and difficulty of their shots. Trae’s problem is that since his athleticism has waned a bit he can’t blow by people like he used to be able to and so his rim efficiency has plummeted.
Trae’s problem is that the refs stopped calling the rip-through and unlike SGA or Brunson he never developed another foul bait move.
Nah Trae utilized backing into defenders/stopping to make them crash into him, like no one else
Where are you getting the idea that Rob Dillingham is the worst defender in the league? It’s his offense that’s been ass, his defense has been competent and there are plenty of advanced stats to support that
It’s wild people still don’t understand what that trade was about…that trade was not about acquiring a player for their team moving forward, it was a trade to help the Hawks clear cap room and offer financial flexibility.
He is effectively an expiring contract, if he had time left on his deal, it would have been a whole different value proposition with a different market of teams
If you’re getting traded for scraps to clear cap space, you still aren’t worth anything
Even cardio king Gabe Vin laden got traded with a second
The off court stuff will obviously get the headlines but the real issue he’s tried to change his game and it’s just not worked.
I honestly don’t know where he goes from here. It’s not a case of just growing up.
Isnt his whole problem that might shoot a little too much?
Also negative defensively and obviously the off court problems
I really don’t blame them, you look at his numbers and I don’t see how you can consistently win games if he has significant usage + if he doesn’t have usage he can’t shoot for shit so you’ll really need to get creative to find ways for him to affect a game, especially given he is mediocore at best on defense (I think I’m being kind calling him mediocre).
Throw in a big contract, injury history and off the court issues that make you think twice before talking yourself into a reclamation project…like how do you talk yourself into it?
Now let me go watch some Ja highlights from the early 2020’s to change my opinion entirely.
God I miss that Ja… he’s such an insane talent when he’s locked in
I feel like a lot of pro sports the difference is consistency.
Good baseball hitter, just a few more regular hits, good quarterback, few more completed passes per game.
At high level all these guys can do the thing, but can they do it efficiently and consistently more than the next guy.
It’s mental. The ones who compete at the highest level and stay there are insanely competitive and always trying to improve. Ja got that level and then just stopped caring. Like Puig in a lot of ways.
Also the willingness to make adjustments and to improve. You can tell which star players in the NBA have that in them and which are coasting off of their base talent level (which is higher than 99.9999%).
I never cared for players that just throws themselves into the lanes and get foul calls. It partially only works because the nba has deeemed you as one of those players who plays hard inside. I’m a firm believer it was the double gun incident that made the nba take away his star calls and he slowly lost his confidence if he is getting hammered inside like before but no calls. It’s why he stopped dunking, if the NBA didn’t appreciate him, he wasn’t going to put his body on the line.
This right here. His only real value is iso paint play, and most stars who play in the paint get VERY relaxed and favorable whistles. He has next to no value to the league at this point, so any special star treatment is gone. Plus, the refs probably judge him on a personal level so I bet he gets less favorable calls than a bench player now. Plus the health risk
If Ant never got a whistle and was smaller and injury prone, he’d mitigate out the paint and favor the jump shots. Only problem is Ja’s just not good at basketball if he doesn’t attack the paint and can’t iso a penalty
When he was glocked in
“Early 2020s”
this hurts to read make it stop
Don’t forget his pain in the ass dad
Kinda sad how many people foresaw this happening and tried to steer him in the right direction but it still happened. It would be cool if he redeemed himself on a team like Miami
Miami? That’s one of the worst places for a guy with the irresponsibility and immaturity of Morant to go to
Yeah, Ja would need the discipline to stay away from the Miami night life and put in some hard work. I just don’t think that’s him at all.
Girls at Tootsies would welcome him with open arms.
I think Spoelstra would murder Pat Riley in his sleep if he brought Morant in. And he would be justified, because doing that would mean Riley had been replaced by some sort of mimic/shape-shifter resembling Pat Riley. Morant might be the least “Heat culture” guy in the league.
Yea the city would be awful for him but I think this guy is saying the culture in the org is exactly what dude needs which I agree with. But I think ja would lose his fucking mind in south beach
More likely to catch a sentence in Miami than a title.
Get that boy to the Jazz.
Or an sti
I could care less for a redemption story here. It would be great if he just disappeared.
I legit think that’s why the Timberwolves still have Jingles on the team, someone who is a good influence to Ant on and off the court.
Jingles needs to tell him about vasectomies
Miami doesn’t fix players, they actively avoid players like Ja. The only way it was happening was if they accepted pure salary matching
Has there been a bigger fall of someone considered a superstar?
I mean, Zion at Duke was legit thought to be the guy to overthrow LeBron.
It’s crazy how now only are they injury prone, but they’ve both been giant, unlikable dumbasses when we were all rooting for them
Zions fat and has an…interesting taste in women, but I don’t think he’s unlikable, at least not to the point Ja is
Yeah what is that take. I don’t see anything that makes Zion unlikable even close to what makes Ja unlikable unless I’m missing something.
While I don’t claim to know the truth, he’s had some concerning allegations against him:
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45393231/zion-williamson-sued-allegations-rape-years-abuse
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/onlyfans-model-claims-nba-player-232758547.html
The second one has to do with his interesting taste in women, guy loves a BBL OF woman, but having a baby mama as a NBA player is just par for the course. The first one has had no updates since the lawsuit came out so I’m not willing to put that against him without more info
At least Zion could still easily get traded….
Yeah I could see a scenario where Zion could be part of a winning team. I literally do not see how Ja helps a serious team. He needs the ball to have any effect, and when he has the ball, bad things happen. And he costs a fortune. Crazy drop off for this dude from 3 years ago. He’s a drunk who is far more interested in flashing the heater than taking his career seriously.
Yeah, Zion when he’s healthy and playing is a good player. There are distractions about his weight and baby mommas, but he’s not Ja. Ja is a liability all around.
Ben Simmons. Zion.
I was gonna say Simmons better be on this list, as a Sixers fan it was a slow, and in hindsight obvious burn, but the actual collapse to the point of no return happened in a single playoff series
Simmons would have still been a net positive player had it not been for the back injury. Ja is completely self inflicted
Except Zion’s still more than capable of playing winning basketball.
The problem is the term superstar is waaaaaay overused. Ja was never a superstar.
Easy to say that now, but he was certainly trending to be one. Was only a few years ago Ja & Ant were the same level of guy as upcoming stars.
Ant actually works on his weaknesses. When he came in to the league, he wasn’t a 3pt shooter at all. Now he takes a lot of 3s confidently, his effiency is also really good for a high volume shooter, especially if you factor in the degree of difficulty of these shots. He rarely gets to shoot uncontested 3s.
Meanwhile, Ja still can’t shoot. He has these random games where he gets hot, but overall, he’s still not capable of being a consistent threat from outside. And that’s a huge problem, because he needs to be a good shooter if he doesn’t go for these reckless drives anymore. Ja is still a good player, I think he gets too much hate right now. But due to injuries and stupidity, he hasn’t improved in years and that’s a death sentence in the NBA. I wouldn’t give up on him yet, but if he can’t turn around his career in the next 2-3 years, he’ll be just another guard that gets passed around like a blunt.
He was an all NBA 2nd teamer though.
If Ja is not a superstar then why does every kid wear his shoes
Shawn Kemp was a 3x All-NBA player, then the 1999 lockout happened.
Ben Simmons was an all star, all nba, all defense, DPOY runner up, led the Sixers to a #1seed, and was pretty much done thereafter.
He was never a superstar, imo.
Grizzlies cutting Ja Morant post is going to go crazy
There are still 2 more years and $87 million on his contract. No way to cut him.
is that bradley beal’s music?
Isn’t that what they said about Dame and Beal?
He shoots 41% from the field and 23% from three that’s not surprising
He shoots
I thought you were going somewhere else with this
It’s really just that his 12 games to start to the season was that bad. In the 8 games since then, he’s 49% from the field and 40% from three, with 8.8APG to go with it. Dude hasn’t forgotten how to play basketball, he just isn’t healthy and (I assume still) has his behavioral stuff going on.
His stats against good vs dog shit teams tells the story here too.
His games since that stretch have almost exclusively been against weak teams. I haven’t seen him even play close to star level in games against anyone but like Washington and orlando
He’s a career 31% shooter from 3. His 3-point shooting just is what it is at this point.
Looking at 8 game spans isn’t super truthful.
He can’t shoot, he cant defend, he can’t dunk. He’s a diva, he’s a toxic culture guy. Yeah, negative value sounds right. Bronny has more value. 100% deadass.
I love hyperboles too even more than my own mother
I mean yea, he’s an injury prone, hotheaded, short guard, highlight reel only player, who lacks shooting and fundamentals.
What’s crazy is those are all the on court red flags. The drinking videos from a couple years ago are insane to see. My man drinks like very few people I’ve ever seen.
And he was almost about to be face of the league just a few years ago
Remember a few years ago this kid was like the next coming of Jordan or some shit
more like derrick rose. jordan was a big stretch for him
Everyone would collectively wince when he’d make a huge dunk and land on one leg. The DRose fears were expressed often.
Not Jordan, but I really thought he’d be a modern Westbrook. He was so hyped, people made fun of me for that take lol
I’m sad tbh, he was very very exciting to watch.
He was (and maybe can still be?) REALLY good. There’s not a ton of guards in the league that we know can average 35ppg and be the best guy on a team that wins a playoff series. He did that. Whether or not he’ll ever do it again remains to be seen.
But I never felt like the hype was unreasonable. He was VERY VERY good.
The comparison was definitely Derrick Rose
Funny that RJ Barrett ended up being the safest pick out of the top 3. Availability really is the best ability. He’s not an all star but still a 20 ppg scorer who’s solid on defense.
Apparently the grizz asked us for Ware or JJJ for him at the deadline.
plus a 1st lol
Yeah I read that. I’m thinking the information got confused somewhere down the line. What would have made more sense is if the grizz asked for Ware or JJJ for Morant + a first.
Kind of crazy that a guy that could potentially earn over half a billion dollars squander it all away because you choose to associate with dumbasses and then make stupid ass decisions. It’s the kind of money none of us will ever see. It’s all on him. You would think his camp would talk some sense into him.
His camp is probably the reason why he acts this way.
This is what drives me so nuts. These dudes are so disconnected from reality, so young, they don’t see anything wrong or crazy about that. “It’s just a job and that’s just the salary” is how they see it.
This man’s net worth is like 5% of Memphis’s GDP. You’d really think any human being would think that’s enough reason to give a much better effort and at least not actively make the city a worse place.
Ja you idiot
His game is not aging well and basketball people see that. He has no 3 point shot, his athleticism has diminished because of injuries and he’s immature. Not a good combination.
He’s a team killer in the bad way.
Dawg imagine getting on espn and seeing people say u have no value in your profession lol
he is indeed a bum
It’s okay, he’s fine in the West
I feel so vindicated for saying he was a flash in the pan back in 21⁄22.
ouch
Come one kings, you know you want to do it
Might wanna start learning Chinese, that’s likely his next stop.
That quote really ended his career
Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving guy.
Ja could have been the face of the league, but his immaturity just ruined the whole thing
If Ja was the sort of person who listened to the smarter people around him, he’d have appreciated the gravity of the situation long ego and curbed his ego. Need to listen to the coaches who are invested in your success telling you what you need to work on to continue to improve, need to listen to your teammates who want to win with you about how to fit in and lead, and need to listen to the consensus opinion when everyone outside of your enablers could see the trendline resulting from your attitude and behavior.
It’s wild how someone so talented was so utterly lacking in the one thing he truly needed– humility and patience.
Am I crazy for thinking this is a great buy low moment for a team? He’s got his obvious issues but this is a guy who got MVP votes, if you don’t have to give up too much could be a really good pick up
Bulls need more guards
Ja & Zion could be the face of this generation…what a waste man
Delonte West would be easier to trade.
Means he is a liability. It’s a business.
This sub really hates the Grizzlies and Ja.
Ja deserves the hate. Grown ass child
Dude was on a superstar trajectory just a few short years ago.
Even when he was healthy, the team won just as many games with Tyus Jones starting as him. He still acts likes a star when he’s clearly not anymore.
Ja really should’ve capitalized on his athleticism and did the dunk contest at any point or numerous…it would’ve helped at least keep him relevant. It’s crazy, but perk might’ve actually been right. Dude could be out of the league.
Calling all MEM homers from this thread the other day:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1qwfuaj/who_has_higher_trade_value_right_now_considering/
What a wild change in just 3 years
Imagine reading this in 2022
“Why did the hawks only get cj and kispert for Trae, they are so dumb”
Ja is very dependent on his athleticism. The way he has been dunking since he entered the league, he didn’t care how he landed once he took off, how he was going to land (gawd bless him). Oftentimes, he hits the ground like a ton of bricks. He don’t care.
He is very slight of frame. Those hard landings add up when you are 6’3” and whisper thin. He was not going to be long for that role as a highflyer. His body would eventually breakdown.
What can he do without those madhops? I’m not saying he is done - yet - but teams are asking, because that day is nigh.
Ja has played less games these last 3 seasons than the games Shaq played his last 2 seasons, while being 37 and 400 pounds.
Don’t follow the Grizzlies at all but I was curious if Grizzlies fans still like Morant?
This should be a description of Paul George and Harden at this point but SOMEHOWWWWWWWW they keep doing what they’re doing and their brand seems strong.
AKME: Just make it a 2nd.
At least it got rid of Tee Morant. Now we know why he acts like an entitled, private school fake gangster
Ja going be out of the league by 2027? He has never played more than 67 games in a season, is injury prone yet reliant on athleticism for everything he does on the court, and has an awful attitude. I can absolutely see him getting bounced from the league after this season if no team takes a flyer on him. But who would want to pay $40M a year for an injury prone diva who might put up a couple highlight dunks?
went to private school
faked being a gangster
bought a trap house in Miami