Resurrection Sunday wasn't kind to the Memphis Grizzlies, and that was keeping it nicely. They made NBA history in a bad way after suffering a 51-point loss to the best NBA regular-season team in the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The good news, if there is any to take away, is that it is only one game of a seven-game series. This sentiment was shared by Ja Morant after the game, as Memphis will look to even the series when the two teams take the court again for game 2 in two days.
Rest is needed for the Grizzlies as they had to travel to Oklahoma City and play a game less than 37 hours after deafening the Dallas Mavericks in the play-in tournament to advance at home on Friday night. While the on-court product was atrocious, one thing was apparent for the Grizzlies' future that showed up in game 1.
Moving on from Ja Morant in the offseason is a death sentence
When the Grizzlies returned to practice from the All-Star break, rumors from rival executives swirled about Ja Morant potentially being available this offseason if their season ended early, as it appears to be headed to. However, general manager Zach Kleiman spoke out, saying Morant is not available.
Despite his 6-17 shooting performance in game 1 against the Thunder, his presence was missed at the game's turning point. Memphis was trailing 19-15 when Morant left the game with 2:54 in the first quarter (outside of him returning for the final 6.2 seconds of the quarter).
When he returned at the 8:07 mark in the second quarter, the Grizzlies trailed 51-22. Yes, Morant finished the game with a -25 plus/minus, but the damage was already done when the team was outscored 32-7 during his typical resting period between the end of the first and beginning of the second quarter.
As Zach Kleiman said when the rest of the league tried to include him as a trade target, "I can’t blame other executives for fantasizing about us trading Ja." It's likely that the rumors will return when the Grizzlies' season ends, but they can't afford to make that a reality.
The team indeed looks to be far away from championship contention with its current core, led by Ja Morant. However, Memphis likely wouldn't get a similar return value in a deal for the superstar point guard who is only 25 years old, and the team has issues surrounding his talent level that they can address to reach a championship contention level.