Stephen A. and Marcus Morris DEBATE 🍿 Should Memphis MOVE ON from Ja Morant? 👋 🤔 | First Take

Stephen A. and Marcus Morris DEBATE 🍿 Should Memphis MOVE ON from Ja Morant? 👋 🤔 | First Take

newly acquired Desmond Bane officially arrived in Orlando after a blockbuster trade where the Grizzlies traded Bane to the Orlando Magic for Cavius Caldwell Cole Anthony four unprotected first round picks and one first round pick swap on Sunday looking at Memphis’s side they’ll have to make some decisions this off seasonason so here’s the deal guys john Morance’s got three years left on his 5-year deal 197 million deal if he signed in 2022 but is eligible to sign a 2-year $128 million extension and twotime all-star Jiren Jackson Jr he’s eligible for a 4-year 147 million extension this off season pay them man pay him okay they chicken you want to go first then i’ll go first okay tell me this do you think the Grizzlies should move on from Jaw hell no and I don’t normally get up here and I’m speaking that tone hell no j Moran has made some mistakes early in his career he’s a young player growing in this league he’s he’s showing up he’s playing all the time yes he’s had some injuries but hey man if they move on from him we don’t know where the Grizzlies look like in the years from now you have a good player you have a franchise piece yes he’s due to get his money you give him his money and that I think because you went and got all them picks and everything from Desmond instead of like trying to find somebody to get there through free agency you go get them right like you use those picks and you go get them i don’t know if they’re going to resign or do whatever it is they have a window where they have two great players right now and with him and you have a Jiren Jackson on the side and I think you keep that court intact i don’t like you you you trade them and get them out of there where do they go from there like you building through the draft that’s not guaranteed everybody can’t do what OKC does right and these other team do does you have a good player you have two good two good pieces you keep them intact and you just see how it grows out keith I mean what’s the plan right if you going to trade them who are you getting back exactly who I mean obviously you’re going to get a ton of picks but who wants that at at this part Orlando just showed you we’ll give you all these picks for a player right now because the way our team is set up is we have all young players the same with the same with Memphis so so you trade job I I’m hearing rumbling that they’re going to play Jiren Jackson so do do you start over with just Jiren Jackson as your as your main point of the team what’s the plan behind trading him are you getting players that are are the same age as Jackson are the same are the same level as John Morant like what is the plan if you’re going to trade him and why because it’s offc court stuff everybody’s still everybody’s dead he’s a young player he’s going to mature he’s going to be better obviously he understands he’s in that light why would you trade him is the big question stephen A I get where y’all are coming from um and I don’t disagree uh cut down the highlights i want to see the twins when I’m bringing up the point I’m about to bring up please um John Morant is a star talent in this game and under no circumstance first of all let’s get this out of the way the gunrelated stuff i’m sick and tired of bringing that up younger he made a mistake let it go let it go that’s not right that’s just not right he’s a good brother you understand what I’m saying he made He made a foolish mistake you know the NBA punished him for it damn you know we give everybody in life a second chance what’s What’s wrong with him having one leave him alone okay let’s just talk about Let’s leave him alone recognize a good dude talk about basketball his talent is not what I’m questioning you got to pay him because he’s star caliber you walk through the turn style see this brother play and he is special i’m not questioning his talent but guys here’s where we got to start asking ourselves looking ahead i’mma throw something by y’all since he signed his contract extension he’s got about three seasons under his belt he’s only played like 120 games you know he missed 32 games last year didn’t play in more than six consecutive games in any stretch this season now I’mma blow y’all away do you know he was on the injured list 15 times 15 this season with eight different ailments hamstring shoulder knee foot back hip thigh illness 15 times now the best ability is what availability and if there’s a question And if there’s a question about his availability now we got to have a different discussion because you see I need you on that damn court cuz you going to sell out you gonna make money for us cuz you a showstopper we know what you can bring let’s look at the stats though minutes per game career low 30.4 last season 45% field goal shooting not bad but his lowest since 2021 23.2 points not bad but his lowest since 2021 so when you combine that with the injuries the trajectory doesn’t seem to be going in the right direction i’m not saying don’t pay him i’m saying we got to sit down and have a conversation no it ain’t about his damn character he’s a good brother it ain’t about that it’s about your availability and how much you also want to be here because Memphis ain’t the ideal spot when we look at the Powers in the Western Conference we got to make sure he want to be there fellas you got Dallas you got Houston you got San Antonio in the comeup you still got LeBron and Luca in LA the Clippers were relevant until James Harden decides not to show up for another game seven i mean damn i’m just looking around the Western Conference okay and Dallas is coming back and stuff like that i’m like yo are you sure you want to be here because this going to be a long hall for us to elevate ourselves to relevance once again in six seasons he’s to taken the team to the playoffs four times he only has one playoff series win one so all of those things I got to take into consideration and I’m not saying you throw him out because the brother’s too big time and he’s box office to ignore what I’m saying is I can also get a lot for him so I got to know you want to be here and I got to know yo you realize what we going through right how much you want this how much you want this because if not we could move you and we going to get a hell of a lot for John Moran we gonna get a hell of a lot for him i got to at least ask that question and have that conversation y’all got any issue with that no issue no issue but let it be known J not good in the West and he said that three years ago he ain’t been good since then between the front office now that we made this move on moving Bane and getting those picks J what is it what did the What does the team need to do or looks like to be able to get over the hump to be able to get better who are we going to get to be able to compete in this Western Conference fin in the Western Conference or are we moving you right those are the questions that need to be asked in this in this in this instant yeah but you if you look at it like you look escape of Memphis Memphis Go ahead go ahead go ahead say you got because I’m I’m going to get to this of his last one last step of the six seasons he’s played in only 307 of a possible 473 games so he’s missed 167 games 166 games that’s also coming with him being like super explosive and trying to like show his superstar like why he’s got Mor but if we go back to like just being like let’s just be let’s just be candid no one wants to play in Memphis it’s not like you going to be able to just get through the draft and like okay we going to get another job or we get another like no one wants to be there and this this kid wants to be there because they embraced him they was doing with him through his tough times and got back on the court yes he’s had some injuries but at the same time what does that even look like for Memphis right now you can at least sell tickets and get to the first round you might not never get back there again if he don’t if he if he leaves and you try to start this thing over with if I’m in a front office I’m at least going to sell some tickets and have my guy that I can point to yes he might not be on the court previously and now I know because of certain comments he made about the way he wants to play and the way he wants to like advance his game so it’s not all about athleticism and this mid-range getting better but at the same time if I’m Memphis if I’m the organization what else can I get back in these pre in these next couple years unless I’m getting a number one pick which you know you don’t know what that may look like what is my team looking like in this West like I’m okay with getting to the first round and battling these guys we got to hit the top of the hours you got either 60 seconds or we can we can continue on keep going marcus listen i know y’all got to go you going to tell folks why nobody wants to be in Memphis or you want me to do it oh no for for a player like me I just I just don’t think that the the the league like for guys like me I love to be in Memphis i embrace it but you got to identify those guys right and it’s not that simple especially a younger guy to identify that wants to be in Memphis i want to hear you say “Why why they don’t why why you think the pe the people the people in Memphis is a great sports town great fans great people but there’s an element there where cats like Jimmy Butler and others don’t feel it’s the safest environment i’m talking to the local authorities in Memphis you got to clean some of that stuff up because it’s dissuasive to NBA players they have talked about it i know they’ve told me quick take big pirates for you denise Smith taking flight after an insane dunk over Chad Homegrren last night what was your reaction to that in real time hey Molly you want to see a dead body so one right there god bless America i feel bad for Chad those are just one of those moments man where you just get caught slipping but God my God Aaron Nman by the way been balling one of the best 3 and D guys in the entire league i like that was one of those moments no doubt i mean Chad didn’t see him you know what I’m saying if he was facing it would have been perk the producers said you might have had one of those moments but I I don’t know i don’t remember uhoh is that true oh here it is d Wayade oh hey you get caught slipping every now and then m what happened miley you went for it though Perk you went for it that’s all that matter um I I mean when you go up and try to when you’re a shot blocker you’re going to get dunked on but that was He didn’t have to hit the cabbage patch on me though he did he did he didn’t have to do that you didn’t have to do that you didn’t have to do that wow and here’s the other part you were facing it your back wasn’t turned i’m just saying your back i just want you to know that I didn’t even know that was coming okay they didn’t even tell me cuz I would have been like you know what we’re not putting in the She’s lying she’s lying she called for it she called for him to find it yeah okay like I remembered that Cabbage Patch moment she called for it all right let’s go uh Jaylen Williams he called for it and he showed up rose to the occasion last night dropping a career playoff high 40 points in the 12109 Thunder route over the Pacers jdubs has at least 25 points five rebounds in the past three games the first player under 25 to do so in the finals since who shaq in 95 big perk it was one of the greatest game five finals performances that I’ve seen i thought of 91 Pippen you remember 91 Pippen in game five you was too young way behind the little small ears that you have but here’s the thing hey Scott here’s the thing though right jub you know what he what he’s doing he’s growing Scott right in front of our eyes right now maturing because like Richard just said he’s getting it done in all phases like from attacking off the dribble to getting to the free throw line he got it done tonight and he this was one of this was an all-time great performance essay you think it’s fair to compare Jaylen Williams to Scotty Pippen um I think it’s fair from the standpoint that Jay Williams plays ball he plays defense um and I think he’s a much better offensive player than Scotty Pippen was but he doesn’t cheat on the defensive end only two NBA players this season have been all NBA and all defensive team as well and that’s Jaylen Williams and Evan Mobley of Cleveland scottie Pippen is obviously one of the all-time great defenders in NBA history a six-time champion who even Michael Jordan concedes they would have never had that level of success without the greatness of Scottie Pippen my only push back to what you said Big Perk is that I’ve never seen Michael Jordan on the floor being a second option in any game to Scotty Pippy that has never happened offensively last night SGA was a second option to Jaylen Williams because Jaylen Williams was balling like that and even SGA was being the bit differential that’s all that’s the only thing that I would But I’m throwing no shade on the greatness of Scotty Pippen and what he brings to the table and he did have some big- time moments even though his highest scoring performance in postseason history was in 1999 as a Houston Rocket when he dropped 37 on the Lakers and that was in the first round so it wasn’t like the 40 drop last but I get you I understand your point KP you talking more like running with MJ or you talking more like the season guy in Portland that was dropping buckets on everybody i I I said it 1991 Jay game five Scotty Pippen against who huh against who i just said it keep going there’s a video okay i’m looking for it which game is this against the Lakers okay against the Lakers i got it yeah i mean look I I I see attributes i mean there I I think there’s always similarities it’s never just matching up directly right uh but I think his defensive prowess is something special i I think offensively he definitely has a different bag maybe it’s this generation’s bag like I sometimes his finishes at the rim remind me a little bit of Kyrie Irving with his soft lays high off the glass and his different Englishes i’m not saying he has the layup package like Kyrie but he has some things that remind me of that he reminds me of a couple different guys he reminds me of Brandon Royy’s pace Andre Igodala’s versatility um and but and he has flashes of Scotty in him i I think whenever we get into a direct correlation of like he is this guy reminds me of this guy then we want to compare it directly where I mean he’s 6’5 though that’s the thing that’s different about him the thing I will say too is there is similarity big big perk on I remember watching him at the NBA combine in the scrimmages like just think about dude dropped 40 in the NBA finals and we watched him in scrimmages during the NBA combine to find the right opportunity from Santa Clara so that background matches what you were talking about with Scotty so I think there’s attributes of it well well look I’m not comparing him for as the similarities or the game i’m talking about the performance that’s what I’m talking about and I’m talking about how he got it done like we basically what we’ve witnessed over the last two to three games in this series we witness we’re witnessing Jub grow right in front of our eyes he’s basically he has become the point guard and SGA has basically become the two guard because Jub is primary primarily the ball handler right now because of you know being able to unlock a different version of SGA right you you know what them heart is doing to SGA picking them up 94 ft wearing them down things to that nature so now all of a sudden Jay Dub has become the ball handler let’s not act like Scotty Pippen wasn’t running the point that time he was use the point forward that’s what we’re witnessing out of Jay Dub let’s not act like Jub can’t guard multiple positions i watched him guard Julius Randle i watched him guard Pascal Seakum i watched him guard smaller guards he get out deflections getting out he had three dunks in the first quarter I believe it was last night setting the tone so when I’m talking about like you know the Scotty Pippen I’m thinking about just his performance in a game five and how he got it done [Music]

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Marcus Morris Sr., Markieff Morris, Jay Williams and Kendrick Perkins join Molly Qerim to discuss if the Memphis Grizzlies should move on from Ja Morant and debate if it’s fair to compare Jalen Williams to Scottie Pippen.

0:00 Ja Morant’s contract
0:49 Should the Grizzlies move on from Ja?
3:17 Stephen A. weighs in
9:32 Aaron Nesmith dunks over Chet Holmgren
11:06 Is it fair to compare Jalen Williams to Scottie Pippen?

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