Ja Morant is headed to the Portland Trail Blazers, and the money changing hands would fund a small city — while the Americans who subsidize this league can barely fill their tanks.
The Memphis Grizzlies traded the 26-year-old guard to Portland for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray, according to ESPN's Shams Charania. The deal ships out roughly $87 million in remaining salary owed to Morant and takes back around $70.6 million owed to Grant, plus Murray's $5.3 million. All of it circulates inside a professional sports system built on taxpayer-subsidized arenas and government-granted privileges no ordinary business enjoys.
Morant played exactly 20 games last season and 79 total over the past three years. He was suspended 25 games in 2023 for a gun-related incident, The Guardian reported, and had a run-in with Grizzlies head coach Tuomas Iisalo last season that resulted in a team-issued one-game suspension, according to Hoops Rumors. For all of this, he's owed $42.167 million next season and $44.887 million the year after — and he carries a 15% trade kicker that could add another $13 million if the deal is finalized after the July 6 moratorium period, Hoops Rumors noted.
The return tells you everything about how the league views Morant's value right now. No draft picks. No key rotation pieces. Just Grant — a 32-year-old forward on what SB Nation called a "bad contract" with two years and $70.6 million remaining — and Murray, a career 5.3-point-per-game bench wing. The Grizzlies didn't have to attach assets to move Morant, but they couldn't extract real value either. Memphis has now dismantled the core of its 51-win team from 2022-23, having already shipped Desmond Bane to Orlando and Jaren Jackson Jr. to Utah. The franchise belongs to No. 3 overall pick Cam Boozer now.
Portland's logic is its own puzzle. The Blazers already employ Damian Lillard (returning from a torn Achilles at 36), Jrue Holiday, and Scoot Henderson. Adding Morant creates what Hoops Rumors called "an increasingly crowded backcourt." SB Nation was blunter: a Lillard-Morant backcourt pairs two small, weak defenders and "I see no world in which [it] is viable even in the short-term." The Blazers will be hard-capped at the first tax apron by taking in more salary than they send out, Hoops Rumors reported. Portland unloaded Grant's contract without surrendering draft capital, but they're now paying premium money for a player whose production cratered — 19.5 points on .410/.235/.897 shooting last season.
The Guardian framed the deal as ending Morant's "volatile run" in Memphis. SB Nation graded the trade a C+ for Portland and called the fit "odd." Hoops Rumors laid out the cold financial mechanics, including that trade kicker that could cost Portland millions more. What none of the outlets mentioned: the fans and taxpayers who fund the buildings, the broadcast deals, and the entire ecosystem that makes these nine-figure salary shuffles possible.
The Grizzlies won 25 games last season. The Blazers are betting on a backcourt that can't stop anybody. The money keeps moving. The people who pay for all of it keep paying more for everything else.
