Minnesota Sports Forum

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 01, 2025 8:30 pm I love Morant’s game, but he can’t be trusted. The change he needs isn’t in the scenery around him. The change he needs is between his ears and I wouldn’t count on any change in that space.

Well said, Lip. I thought he might bounce back after his suspension with an "I'll show them" game, but instead he was terrible...5 turnovers and 5 for 16 shooting. And he's now shooting 13.9% on treys for the season. He pouted and got Jenkins fired, and now he's dissatisfied with the new coach, who has an entirely different personality than Jenkins! He's a punk, and he'll always be a punk. I feel sorry for the team that trades for him.

I'm no Memphis Grizzlies expert... or Ja Morant expert. But the 1,000-mile view is that Morant has issues and is the problem. And his on-court game is deteriorating.

And then I listen to Justin Vernon on the Zach Lowe podcast and he swears the guy is NOT a knucklehead or one of "those guys."

To be fair, I didn't hear the entire podcast.

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Tue Nov 04, 2025 10:58 am I'm no Memphis Grizzlies expert... or Ja Morant expert. But the 1,000-mile view is that Morant has issues and is the problem. And his on-court game is deteriorating.

And then I listen to Justin Vernon on the Zach Lowe podcast and he swears the guy is NOT a knucklehead or one of "those guys."

To be fair, I didn't hear the entire podcast.

Yeah Chris Vernon is a fan for sure. I was listening with my kids it was kind of funny. My daughter summed it up best she said, "Im not sure he's a bad guy, but he sure acts like one"

His fall might be the most significant I can remember if he never regains any sort of all star level play.

thedoper wrote: ↑Tue Nov 04, 2025 12:07 pm

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Tue Nov 04, 2025 10:58 am I'm no Memphis Grizzlies expert... or Ja Morant expert. But the 1,000-mile view is that Morant has issues and is the problem. And his on-court game is deteriorating.

And then I listen to Justin Vernon on the Zach Lowe podcast and he swears the guy is NOT a knucklehead or one of "those guys."

To be fair, I didn't hear the entire podcast.

Yeah Chris Vernon is a fan for sure. I was listening with my kids it was kind of funny. My daughter summed it up best she said, "Im not sure he's a bad guy, but he sure acts like one"

His fall might be the most significant I can remember if he never regains any sort of all star level play.

Great line by your daughter. Normally I would be heavily interested in a guy like Ja who could move the meter. We need a point guard, but we don't need a ferrari. I also believe we now have a legitimate big 3 with the offensive emergence of Jaden. Let's make a lesser deal for a good, heady point guard, another one for a center who can play defense and see where that takes us.

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 04, 2025 1:25 pm

thedoper wrote: ↑Tue Nov 04, 2025 12:07 pm

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Tue Nov 04, 2025 10:58 am I'm no Memphis Grizzlies expert... or Ja Morant expert. But the 1,000-mile view is that Morant has issues and is the problem. And his on-court game is deteriorating.

And then I listen to Justin Vernon on the Zach Lowe podcast and he swears the guy is NOT a knucklehead or one of "those guys."

To be fair, I didn't hear the entire podcast.

Yeah Chris Vernon is a fan for sure. I was listening with my kids it was kind of funny. My daughter summed it up best she said, "Im not sure he's a bad guy, but he sure acts like one"

His fall might be the most significant I can remember if he never regains any sort of all star level play.

Great line by your daughter. Normally I would be heavily interested in a guy like Ja who could move the meter. We need a point guard, but we don't need a ferrari. I also believe we now have a legitimate big 3 with the offensive emergence of Jaden. Let's make a lesser deal for a good, heady point guard, another one for a center who can play defense and see where that takes us.

So, you don't see an DDV/ANT backcourt as viable moving forward?

60WinTim wrote: ↑Tue Nov 04, 2025 1:33 pm

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 04, 2025 1:25 pm

thedoper wrote: ↑Tue Nov 04, 2025 12:07 pm

Yeah Chris Vernon is a fan for sure. I was listening with my kids it was kind of funny. My daughter summed it up best she said, "Im not sure he's a bad guy, but he sure acts like one"

His fall might be the most significant I can remember if he never regains any sort of all star level play.

Great line by your daughter. Normally I would be heavily interested in a guy like Ja who could move the meter. We need a point guard, but we don't need a ferrari. I also believe we now have a legitimate big 3 with the offensive emergence of Jaden. Let's make a lesser deal for a good, heady point guard, another one for a center who can play defense and see where that takes us.

So, you don't see an DDV/ANT backcourt as viable moving forward?

Not against OKC. We need a pass-first point guard who can defend. And Clark needs to play substantial minutes also.

Difficult contract to trade for at 39.4 mil this season and us being on the edge of breaking the 2nd Apron. It would require us to trade either Randle / Gobert and DDV / Conley to acquire him and leave us with only 13 players on main roster.

Morant is a fantastic highlight reel but at this point he has a lot to prove before any other franchise besides the Griz should gamble on him.

And if he's trying to force his way out of Memphis by playing like crap then there is really no reason to talk yourself into him being on your team.

He's more hype and highlight reels then an on court winner. Doesn't shoot well enough from 3, yeah I was right after looking it up, he's a very poor 31% career 3P shooter (Ricky Rubio shot 32%, so he's arguably a worse shooter). You really have to play him with a stretch 5 otherwise the paint is super clogged (so no Rudy or Joan).

Then his off court behavior and other issues and baggage (potentially bad teammate and is he even coachable?). I'd pass. If he was a good 3P shooter I'd be maybe fine with it, but it's just hard to play a guy like that today and win a chip as a large contract guy too.

Too many negatives for me.

He had his best season statistically his age-22 year, his 3rd in the NBA. He has been gradually getting worse every season ever since. That by itself is a red flag, as most players keep improving and hit their peak production in their mid to late 20s.

Panning back a bit, I think we've talked about this before as it relates to Dillingham's future. Small-ish point guards that are high-usage scorers almost never find a ton of playoff success in the post-2000 NBA. Ja Morant, Kemba Walker, and Darius Garland are just a few examples. Their offensive efficiency tends to go down in the playoffs and they get relentlessly targeted on defense. Just not a good combination.