If you like surprises, go your way. Because here we have information that will not surprise many people. Having just completed his third NBA season and eligible for a maximum extension, Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant has just extended for five years in Memphis according to Adrian Wojnarowski (ESPN).
Five years, for 193 million dollars. On the side of the player as of the franchise, there was not to think very long. Ja Morant obviously signed with his eyes closed, thus winning his very first max contract while he still has a year left under his rookie deal. The Grizzlies, meanwhile, have never shied away from offering the jackpot to their phenom, who has been at the center of the Memphis franchise’s meteoric rise since arriving in 2019, when he was drafted No. 2 All-Star. for the first time in his career this season, elected MIP as well as in the All-NBA second team, Morant is one of those young superstars who make the League of today and tomorrow. Because if there is one guy who can become the true face of the NBA in the future, it’s Ja, he who not only combines all the qualities of a franchise player but who above all represents one of the players the most exciting on the basketball planet. His posters, his inhuman counters, his actions coming directly from Pluto make the headlines every night and allow him and the Grizzlies to dominate the hype. Hype associated with constantly improving results, Memphis remaining on the best regular season in franchise history (56 wins, second place in the West) and a qualification for the semi-finals of the conference. Let the Wild Wild West get ready, Ja’s gang is coming to take over.
You understood, even if the extension of Ja Morant represented the biggest file of the summer in Memphis, the suspense was elsewhere in Tennessee. We wondered rather what would happen to Tyus Jones, Morant’s replacement at the Grizzlies and now a free agent. Was he going to stay? What regarding Kyle Anderson? Answer: a new deal of 30 million over two years for the leader, while Slow Mo packed his bags for Minnesota. These questions having been answered, management will now be able to focus on the cases of other boys such as Steven Adams and Dillon Brooks who will enter their last year of contract in 2022-23. One can also wonder how Memphis will try to compensate for the injury of Jaren Jackson Jr., victim of a stress fracture and out for several months. The Grizzlies have already been active on Draft night, including moving De’Anthony Melton to pick up the Sixers’ 23rd pick and Danny Green, so it will be interesting to see what they have in store for us in the days to come. The objective for the boss of basketball operations Zach Kleiman is obviously to keep the pieces that allowed the Grizzlies to become a heavyweight in the West, but also to make the necessary moves to build the most solid collective possible around the centerpiece named Ja Morant.
First player in Grizzlies history to win a maximum extension out of rookie contract, Morant continues to show why he is not really a player like any other. 193 million green tickets over five years, it was expected and it is deserved. We are now waiting for the video of Ja on Twitter doing his famous Griddy.
Source texte : ESPN