Morant still pins hopes on Grizzlies return

MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Memphis guard Ja Morant hopes to still be wearing a Grizzlies uniform after this season, despite being put on the trade market last month.

Morant, in his first public comments since he was injured seven weeks ago, emphasized the point while taking questions before the Grizzlies lost to the Los Angeles Clippers 123-120 on Saturday night.

In most cases, Morant's answers were short — sometimes evasive — and shed little light on the current situation between him and the Grizzlies organization.

Even when asked about his name being mentioned at the trade deadline and the team's plans to pivot to a rebuild, Morant referred to previous comments saying he was loyal to the organization.

"I think I answered this question when they asked me where I wanted to be," Morant said, referring to his comments when the Grizzlies played in Europe in January. When pressed further about the matter and whether anything had changed, Morant replied: "You've got a phone? Look it up."

In that January news conference, Morant referenced the Grizzlies logo tattooed on his back.

"That should tell you exactly where I want to be," he said at the time.

Morant, the 6-foot-2 guard who is in his seventh season out of Murray State, had not spoken with the media since he injured his left elbow on Jan 21 against Atlanta. He has missed the last 20 games, including the Grizzlies matchup with the Clippers on Saturday night. The team announced Thursday that Morant was still experiencing discomfort, imaging of the elbow showed incomplete healing and he will be reevaluated in two weeks.

Morant said he has problems with cross-body passes, saying "whipping a pass" is the biggest problem.

"I feel like I could fight through it," he said, "but I still have to be smart."

The media availability before the Clippers game was also the first time Morant has commented since the NBA's trade deadline on Feb 5. Memphis didn't get any offers it was willing to accept, leaving Morant on the roster — and in limbo, as the Grizzlies focus on the future.

The potential breakup between the team and its star guard is the culmination of Morant's decreasing impact on the game.

The guard, taken second in the 2019 draft behind Zion Williamson, was a nightly highlight reel early in his career with the Grizzlies.

Morant challenged some of the NBA's tallest centers with dunks at the rim and avoided defenders with whirling gyrations. His passes found cracks in defenses, and he regularly chased down blocks where he pinned the ball at the top of the square on the backboard.

Those high-flying, highlight-yielding plays earned him Rookie of the Year in 2020 and Most Improved Player in 2022.

Off-court troubles and growing behavioral issues started surfacing in 2023 and diminished his impact on the court for the Grizzlies. Video in March 2023 of Morant flashing a gun at a Denver-area nightclub led to an eight-game suspension by the NBA, even though no criminal charges were filed.

Months later, Morant was seen on a livestream flashing a gun, this time from the passenger seat of a car. After the league investigation, NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced that Morant would start the 2023-24 season with a 25-game suspension.

In 20 games this season, Morant is averaging 19.5 points and 8.1 assists.