There once was a time when the Memphis Grizzlies were the talk of the NBA world, for all the right reasons.
The main character for that story? The audaciously awesome Ja Morant. He wouldn't jump - he would levitate. He wouldn't dunk - he would attack. He was unapologetically himself, aggressively original, and seemingly a prototypical superstar for Memphis and their Grizzlies. There was no question as to who was the star, the alpha, the franchise's most significant player.
The immaculate vibes that led to ESPN hosting a Memphis Grizzlies day have dissipated, however. The postgame interviews, the end-of-season awards, the questions about whether Morant is the future of the NBA as aging stars like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant eventually leave the league...all have faded away.
In their place? Think pieces on trash talk with Klay Thompson and pondering whether or not a 26-year-old point guard is already past his prime.
How did we get to this place? That would require a long series of features and essays, meticulously researched and interviewed. Nuance and context, an understanding and empathy that are far too rare these days in our discourse. But it is fair to say that the common denominator in these concerns, from off-court issues to on-court productivity slips, is Ja Morant himself.
And regardless of what aspect of Morant's current status is prioritized as "the reason" Ja has fallen from grace, there's no denying that the Memphis Grizzlies appear more prepared than ever before to move on if they choose to.
The key part of that new reality is "if they choose to". The Grizzlies' front office had to know when they signed Ja Morant to his max contract that he was a flawed star, even when taking suspensions off the table. He has yet to develop an offensive game beyond the three-point arc, a pretty significant issue for a guard his size. He has never been better than a below-average overall defender, especially within Memphis schemes that have prioritized steals and blocks for the majority of his career.
But despite all that, Morant is electric when he's on. Few players in the world can generate the feeling that anything can happen when the ball is in their hands like Ja can. And flashes of that ability are still present within Morant's game. Building a roster around his incomplete game is possible. But this season, the special moments of Morant's brilliance have been few and far between.
It has brought us here - to this point, the worst offensive season of Morant's career so far. And injury once again threatens to derail any opportunity for the former heir apparent to NBA greatness to get right.
Time is marching on
Meanwhile, if you look at the leaderboard in terms of efficiency on the Memphis Grizzlies in 2025-2026, it is not Ja Morant's name at the top of the list. Even Ja's co-star, Jaren Jackson Jr., isn't a part of that list at this stage. The top-4 players in efficiency differential for Memphis are...
1. Zach Edey (+29.8 in 107 minutes played, 2nd best in the entire NBA among players that have logged at least 100 minutes)
2. Cedric Coward (+15 in 462 minutes played, 5th in the entire NBA among players that have played at least 450 minutes)
3. Vince Williams Jr. (+9.7 in 275 minutes played, part of a career year (so far) while playing a chunk of time out of position at "point forward" due to the Morant injury, as well as injuries to Ty Jerome, Scotty Pippen Jr., and Javon Small)
4. Santi Aldama (+8.5 in 479 minutes played, the best mark of his career by almost 10 points after signing a contract extension this past offseason).
Those four players make roughly $32,500,000 combined this season on their contracts, with Aldama's almost $18.5 million making over half of that amount. Ja Morant, and his current -2.5 efficiency rating, is making almost $39.5 million this season.
If there was a trade market for Morant, now may well be the time to explore it...is what someone who does not understand Ja's connection to Memphis and the Grizzlies would say with complete confidence. But while performance and availability may suggest moving on from the Morant era would be the right play, the role Ja plays in making the Grizzlies must-see in the city cannot be denied.
He is the first Memphis Grizzlies superstar. That carries weight in a basketball-crazed town that appreciates players who come to call Memphis home, as Ja does. And it is not as if he's alone in terms of underperforming - Jaren Jackson Jr., fresh off a new contract, almost max contract himself, has not played this poorly since the 2020-2021 season.
Whether it's the new system of Grizzlies Head Coach Tuomas Iisalo or the inability of Ja and Jaren to fully engage with the four players mentioned above due to injury (Morant and Edey have played roughly 7 minutes together this season), the two highest paid Memphis Grizzlies are not achieving at expected levels at this time.
But it wasn't Jackson Jr. ESPN was chasing years ago. Jaren, with all due respect to his strong NBA career so far, was never seen as a possible "face of the league." That was Ja Morant.
And with the weight of those expectations comes the burden of judgment when they are not met.
What comes next?
Ja Morant is only 26 years old. He is just entering what are supposed to be the prime years of his career. It seems counterintuitive to give up on a player with Morant's talent now. But he's attempting fewer shots at the rim than he ever has, and questions of whether that's because he physically cannot get there any longer have been asked.
From negative play on the court to negative press off of it for interactions with other players when not dressed out to play, the question may not be whether or not it's time to trade Ja Morant. You likely will not get fair value for his contract and contributions.
The question becomes, when do you prioritize your younger players who are currently succeeding? And when do you move on from what was the most exciting - and potentially most disappointing - era in Memphis Grizzlies history, either via transactions or via role reversal?
The future once belonged to Ja Morant. Now, he may be on borrowed time.