Ja Morant is officially packing bags for the 503 area code after ending his tenure with the Memphis Grizzlies like a messy reality TV show finale.
Following a heated postgame blowout with head coach Tuomas Iisalo in late 2025 and a subsequent team-issued suspension, Morant found himself completely iced out by the entire Grizzlies locker room.
Joe Johnson’s Blueprint for Ja Morant to Co-Exist with Dame Time
The crumbling sense of camaraderie and a lingering left elbow UCL sprain made things harder for Morant. The hefty five-year, $197.2 million contract scared the other front offices, who might have seen the 26-year-old as a potential rotational key member.
But with his official trade locked in, the league’s landscape is about to shift.
The Portland Trail Blazers finally acquired the 2-time All-Star, sending Jerami Grant and Kris Murray to Memphis, with no draft picks included in the exchange.
With Ja Morant sharing the backcourt with Damian Lillard, the Blazers are envisioning a high-intensity offensive force for the upcoming season.
But the adjustment won’t be seamless for a player who only played 20 games last season, averaging 19.5 points and 8.1 assists.
Lillard runs Portland’s offense, which requires the new addition to be absolutely dominant off the ball to find success. But Morant has only shot 41.0% from the field and a freezing 23.5% from deep last season.
On the latest episode of Nightcap, seven-time All-Star Joe Johnson gave Morant a blunt reality check on his shooting metrics and offered a blueprint on how he must navigate Oregon.
“Man, the biggest thing is [he] is going to have to learn how to play without the ball, Ocho. You’ve got to,” said Johnson.
“Dame is a great catch-and-shoot guy… With his elite athleticism, bro, he just can’t be a statue when Dame over there running pick-and-roll… You know…shooting twenty-something percent from the damn three nowadays as a point guard ain’t gonna cut it, bro. You know, you gotta get in the lab. I’m talking about, should be in there right now tonight.”
Joe Johnson says the biggest adjustment ja morant has to make playing with the Portland trailblazers is learning how to play without the ball . He should be in the gym now working on his 3 ball pic.twitter.com/wB1Lw6fb3D
— NBA Hoops (@Thechat101) June 30, 2026
While superstars like Stephen Curry dominate the league’s all-time list for three-pointers made, newer talents like Kon Knueppel are also raising the bar, leading the league with 273 made three-pointers while shooting a highly efficient 42.5% from deep in 2025-26.
In stark contrast to this perimeter-driven NBA era, where the long-range advantage is completely non-negotiable, Morant’s dismal three-point shooting percentage paints a struggling picture for a star who relies on pure athleticism to dominate the paint.
ALSO READ: Grade the Ja Morant Trade: Who Won the Blockbuster Deal Between the Blazers and Grizzlies?
The former Rookie of the Year still has 2 years and $87 million left on his current contract. He will earn $42.2 million this upcoming season and $44.9 million in 2027-28.
If the dynamic playmaker can develop an off-ball presence, fix the perimeter shooting, add more layups and floaters accompanied by smart cutting, the Blazers, who finished 7th with a 42-40 record last season, might just disrupt the hierarchy of the Western Conference.
But as Johnson said, “It all starts with putting in work tonight.”
