MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) \u2014 The NBA trade deadline has passed and Ja Morant remains in Memphis despite speculation that the relationship between the Grizzlies and their former all-star had reached a parting point.<\/p>\n
Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman addressed the team\u2019s trade deadline moves on Friday, saying some of the outside noise involving Morant is overblown.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been incredibly supportive of Ja,\u201d Kleiman said at a press conference. \u201cJa is Ja. … I\u2019ve had open, constructive, honest conversations with Ja and his camp, and I\u2019m going to continue to.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Memphis didn\u2019t make a move on Morant, it did trade Jaren Jackson Jr., a two-time All-Star, the 2023 defensive player of the year, two-time blocked shot champion and three-time all-defensive team pick.<\/p>\n
\u201cJaren was a pillar for the last eight years,\u201d Kleiman said. \u201cHe was a true professional on the court, off the court. He certainly gave his all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kleiman said the team evaluated various scenarios for players on the roster. If a deal wasn\u2019t made, they didn\u2019t get the right offer, he said.<\/p>\n
Asked whether Morant would play for Memphis again this season, Kleiman provided a vague answer, saying Morant is ramping up, rehabilitating his injury and the team would have an update later.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will continue to say, (he is) currently rehabbing. He\u2019s attacking his rehab,\u201d Kleiman said. \u201cIt\u2019s a medical determination.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morant, the second pick in the 2019 NBA draft, came into the league full of excitement and highlights. Spinning dunks, finishes at the rim and snake-like maneuvers through the paint. His entry gained him rookie of the year honors.<\/p>\n
Things dissipated in recent years with less excitement, decreasing statistics along with a rash of injuries and suspensions. The NBA handed him the most serious suspension \u2014 25 days at the start of the 2023-24 season for conduct detrimental to the league \u2014 after he was recorded on camera flashing a gun, his second such offense.<\/p>\n
The team suspended him for one game earlier this season after a postgame rant directed at the Grizzlies coaching staff headed by first-year coach Tuomas Iisalo. Injuries, as they had multiple times in Morant\u2019s career, piled up, leaving the centerpiece of the Grizzlies offensive attack sitting on the bench.<\/p>\n
That includes the last seven games after he suffered a left elbow sprain. Morant is averaging 19.5 points and 8.1 assists this season, but has played in only 20 of the Grizzlies 49 games.<\/p>\n
While acknowledging the change in direction, Kleiman emphasized this was not intended to be a five-year rebuild. While some of it depends on luck of the draw, avoiding injuries and other factors, he thinks the pivot is the direction needed for the Grizzlies. He believes the core with players like Jaylen Wells, Cedric Coward and Zach Edey, a two-time college player of the year who has been hurt most of the season, sets the foundation for the rebuild.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe good thing about where we are as we turn the page and embark on building this group, we\u2019re not starting from scratch,\u201d Kleiman said.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nba<\/p>\n
Clay Bailey, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) \u2014 The NBA trade deadline has passed and Ja Morant remains in Memphis despite speculation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-458255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}