Portland lands Ja Morant in blockbuster trade
After seven NBA seasons, the Ja Morant era in Memphis has come to an end. The Memphis Grizzlies traded Morant to the Portland Trail Blazers on June 30 in exchange for forwards Jerami Grant and Kris Murray, ending the two-time NBA All-Star’s turbulent but electric run with the
By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
After seven NBA seasons, the Ja Morant era in Memphis has come to an end.
The Memphis Grizzlies traded Morant to the Portland Trail Blazers on June 30 in exchange for forwards Jerami Grant and Kris Murray, ending the two-time NBA All-Star’s turbulent but electric run with the franchise.
The deal did not include draft pick compensation, making it a striking acquisition for the Trail Blazers, who returned to the playoffs during the 2025-26 NBA season after finishing 42-40 and securing the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference.
According to senior NBA insider Chris Haynes, Portland plans to start Morant and Damian Lillard together in the backcourt when the 2026-27 NBA season opens in October.
The pairing gives Portland a high-profile guard tandem around Lillard, who missed the previous season while recovering from a torn Achilles injury.
Morant and Lillard are expected to join emerging forward Deni Avdija in forming one of the NBA’s most intriguing new cores.
Avdija helped steer the Trail Blazers last season while Lillard was sidelined.
Several NBA analysts had predicted a major Memphis move after the Grizzlies traded away Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr., Morant’s co-stars during the franchise’s rise from 2020 to 2023.
Morant, the 2020 NBA Rookie of the Year, had a promising start in Memphis after helping transform the Grizzlies from a rebuilding team into a playoff contender.
He led Memphis to the postseason three times, with the franchise’s best run during that stretch coming in the 2021-22 season, when the Grizzlies reached the Western Conference semifinals.
Morant’s rise, however, was clouded by off-court controversies, personal battles, injuries, and suspensions.
In 2023, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver suspended Morant for eight games after he appeared on Instagram Live holding a handgun.
Two months later, Morant was involved in another incident after an Instagram Live video showed him flashing a handgun inside a car.
The second incident led the NBA to suspend him for 25 games at the start of the following season.
Morant played only 20 games last season, averaging 19.5 points and 8.1 assists for Memphis.
His arrival in Portland offers a fresh start for the guard, with Lillard expected to help guide him in a new locker room.
The trade also signals a reset for Memphis, which added Grant and Murray while moving on from the last major piece of its previous core.
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