Point guard Ja Morant wouldn’t mind if he’s drafted by a small-market team like the Grizzlies, he told David Cobb of the Memphis Commercial Appeal and other media members on Friday.
The Grizzlies are reportedly zeroing in on the Murray State floor leader with the No. 2 selection in the draft. A pair of big-market teams, the Knicks and Lakers, are next in line in the draft, but Morant says it’s all the same to him.
“If a team drafts me, big market or small market, it doesn’t matter,” Morant said at the draft combine. “I’m going to be happy where I’m at.”
Morant could join the Grizzlies’ lottery selection from last season, big man Jaren Jackson Jr., as the key figures in the club’s rebuild. Morant met with the Pelicans, who hold the No. 1 selection and will almost assuredly select Duke’s Zion Williamson, as well as Memphis and New York at the combine. He did not participate in any 5-on-5 games in Chicago.
He admits he’s not familiar with the city of Memphis.
“I just know Memphis Grizzlies basketball and that’s it,” Morant said. “If you ask me about Chicago, I know Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan. It’s just that I’ve never been to places like that and I’m a big basketball guy, so I would probably know basketball.”
Morant took a diplomatic approach to the questions thrown at him. He clearly doesn’t want to say anything that might haunt him in the future. He zoomed up the prospects list in his sophomore season, averaging 24.5 PPG, 10.0 APG and 5.7 RPG while leading the Racers to the NCAA Tournament.
“I really would be happy with any team that drafts me,” Morant said. “That means they see something in me. It’s just an honor to be able to play this game at the highest level and just to be in the position that I’m in.”
Seems to have a good head on his shoulders. Hopefully he has a long and successful career.
Memphis is awesome. Jerry Lawerland!
Its funny. South Carolina, where he’s from, borders Tennessee, but Memphis is over a 9 hour drive from his hometown, he could be in Philadelphia in the same amount of time. He sounds like a good kid, and I like his game. I wish him the best.
No it doesn’t.
Memphis is less than a 3 hour drive from Murray where he has a HUGE fan base. They will probably fill that arena often. I wish him all the best.
Kid is going to be a superstar in this league. I do think him and Jaron Jr will be really nice building blocks for this team. The key thing is whoever they hire for to be their coach, needs to have at-least a 3 year time frame to show the fruits of their labor. I always liked Memphis fans, very loyal to a fault. Franchise is trending up if they get the right coach in place and trade Conley Jr.