Former NBA player suggests Grizzlies to add help for Ja Morant amid injury concerns: “They’re without triple J, which is huge”
One of the best games of the week took place Monday night as Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics topped Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies 109-106. Both teams are among the best in their conferences, and the expected good action in this one didn't disappoint.
NBA analyst Jalen Rose was impressed with the Celtics and their prospects this season.
"It was the Celtics holding off a Ja Morant late rally and Jayson Tatum playing his way in the MVP conversation," Rose said. "I like how the Celtics solidified their backcourt over the last couple of years with (Derrick) White and then this offseason adding (Malcolm) Brogdon to go with Marcus Smart.
"So, what that did is it take Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown out of having to create offense for themselves and everyone each possession. So, if you notice, as Jayson Tatum has gotten stronger, you see him finishing at the hoop, you see him hanging on the rim in the halfcourt, because he now can look at it, he can now play through contact.
"That's an improvement in his game. Also, it's always good to see seasoned veteran Al Horford out there giving him quality minutes."
But Rose is concerned about one issue with the Grizzlies:
"The one thing I'll say about the Grizzlies, I know what I'm going to get from Ja and (Desmond) Bane and (Dillon) Brooks, but I feel like they're going to need one more player up front that's going to give them constant numbers. And I know they're without Triple J (Jaren Jackson Jr.), which is, huge.
"But to create that level of balance just going to take pressure off of Ja."
Kevin Durant-to-Grizzlies trade could help Ja Morant
While it's uncertain if the Brooklyn Nets are still shopping Kevin Durant, the Memphis Grizzlies should be all over trying to add the veteran superstar. Ja Morant needs the help.
Durant is still one of the game's best players, and adding him to the Grizzlies would be huge for their championship hopes. He's shown throughout the past few seasons that he can score 30-plus points on any given night (averaging 31.0 points per game and 29.9 ppg last season). More importantly, as Jalen Rose said, he has the ability to take all the pressure away from Morant and allow him to do his own thing when he needs to.
Morant is undoubtedly one of the top 10 players in the league, but the Grizzlies still need to add another guy to be the team they're hoping to be. The team is young, and there's a reason why they haven't made a big splash in terms of going out and adding a new guy. But they're almost to the point where they need to go do this if they want to take that next step.
If they can find a way to package some of their draft picks and get Kevin Durant, they need to be all over doing something like this. A pairing of Morant and Durant would be unstoppable.