Ja Morant's season, full of highs and lows, has been cut short due to injury. Morant will undergo shoulder surgery to repair a labral tear, which will end his season, the team said in a statement. Morant suffered a subluxation of his right shoulder Saturday, according to the team, and missed the Grizzlies' win against the Suns.
The Grizzlies only had Morant back in the lineup for nine games due to his 25-game suspension to start the season for repeated violations of team and league rules regarding firearms last season. The Grizzlies struggled in that stretch, amassing a 6-19 record and going 9-16 against the spread over that stretch.
Action Network Senior NBA Writer Matt Moore doesn't expect the Grizzlies to compete this season in light of the latest news:
You can expect the Grizzlies to pivot to a full-on pivot toward next season with the news of Morant's season-ending surgery. This had already become somewhat of a "gap year" after Morant missed the first 25 games and the team was without both Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke, and Marcus Smart missed serious time.
The front office may look to move various contracts, including Smart's, along with long-term moves to try and shore up their bench, but you should expect to see absences in the back half of the season for both Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. which will likely make them ineligible for season-ending awards, though neither were strong candidates.
Sometimes you get a magical year where everything comes together, and sometimes you get the year from hell. The Grizzlies got the latter.
Morant hasn't responded to the injury publicly beyond tweeting out a blue heart shortly after the news of his injury spread.
💙
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) January 9, 2024
This is a developing story.
