Memphis Grizzlies: Comparing Ja Morant to past and current NBA stars

Memphis Grizzlies PG Ja Morant and Derrick Rose have some clear similarities in their game

Hopefully Ja Morant’s career takes a different path than Derrick Rose. That’s not a shot at Rose, but his career took a negative turn with multiple injuries that would stop him in his tracks.

Having said that, these two are very similar basketball players. Much like Westbrook, Rose is one of the most explosive athletes that the NBA has ever seen. His speed was unmatched by anybody in the league before his injuries and he was a huge leader for his Chicago Bulls team, much like Morant.

Rose would go on to become the youngest MVP in league history, so if Morant was able to follow his path, it would be ideal for the Grizzlies.

Once again, I’m going to compare their rookie seasons. Here is what each player’s stats looked like:

Ja Morant: 17.8 PPG, 7.3 APG, 3.9 RPG, 0.9 SPG, 47.7% FG, 33.5% 3PT FG

Derrick Rose: 16.8 PPG, 6.3 APG, 3.9 RPG, 0.8 SPG, 47.5% FG, 22.2% 3PT FG

It was actually shocking to compare these two stats. They’re nearly identical, which gives a lot of hope for Ja Morant’s career. If he can avoid injury, he could be the player that Derrick Rose was never able to become.

That being said, Rose also struggled with shooting, much like Morant and Westbrook. The difference here is that Rose played in an era where 3-point shooting wasn’t as important. Even though Morant holds the edge in that category, he still needs to improve his long-range shot.