Ja Morant creating offense for Memphis Grizzlies

The Memphis Grizzlies’ Ja Morant has established himself as one of the early front runners for rookie of the year. Let’s take a look at how he has created offense for himself and his teammates so far this season.

It is amazing me when ball-dominant players can enter the NBA, immediately take the reins as a team’s primary offensive engine and look like they belong. The Memphis Grizzlies seem to have found just such a player in the young and electric Ja Morant.

Morant’s averages of 19.1 points and 6.0 assists per game have him leading all rookies in points and assists to go with his 3.1 rebounds per game. Moreover his massive 31.5 usage percentage reveals just how much the Grizzlies are relying on him to be their primary creator on offense.

Specifically Morant is generating solid offensive opportunities for the Grizzlies in the open court and through a skilled pick and roll game that belies his lack of experience in the NBA.

Transition

This may come as a shock, but Morant, a lightning-quick guard that can jump out of the gym, is pretty good in transition. He possesses a ton of mid-range speed and understands when to hit the gas. He has fit seamlessly into the Memphis Grizzlies’ new up-tempo offense.

Notice the drastic speed change once the ball touched Morant’s hands, yet he maintained solid balance and control into an effortless finish at the rim. This combination of skillful athleticism can be especially dangerous when he is the one grabbing the defensive board.

The Miami Heat got three defenders back and yet Morant walked to the front of the rim as if they were not even there. The man is a nightmare for backpedaling defenders to deal with. It should be noted that Morant is right handed, yet when he is finishing at the rim as he did above, he can do so with either hand with incredible dexterity.

Pick-and-roll

The Memphis Grizzlies run a pick-and-roll heavy scheme, which plays perfectly to Ja Morant’s talents. He has a particular affinity for getting both feet into the paint as a pick-and-roll ball handler.

Less than 20 games into his professional career, Morant has already demonstrated the ability to make complicated reads out of the pick-and-roll. There he locked the trailing guard out of the play by undercutting him and punished the defensive big man’s conservative drop with a pinpoint floater out of his reach.

That floater is a favorite of Morant’s and makes up the majority of the shots he takes in the short mid-range.

Morant once again locked out the trailing guard with his body, but instead of hitting the floater he read that Cody Zeller had allowed Jonas Valanciunas to get behind him on his roll and threw the big man a lob.

While Morant has excelled at operating within the lane, he has also shown flashes of reading defensive rotations out of the corner.

This was his best assist so far this season. The ability to dime up corner shooters when their man is in rotation out of the pick-and-roll is an elite skill that very few players in the NBA can reliably accomplish. If he can repeatedly make that type of read, he will be a special player.

It would be remiss to not also mention Morant’s ability to attack the rim out of the pick-and-roll.

Kyrie Irving is the only guard I had ever seen show the ball with one hand then switch to the other in midair to finish. Morant did just that, while also being challenged (and fouled) by Dwight Howard. Phenomenal skill and body control.

Generally, point guards don’t inspire much fear into opposing big men unless they are shooters, but Morant’s ability to finish among the trees requires special consideration to treat him as if he were an athletic wing when he attacks the basket.

Final thoughts

Shooting off the dribble is the primary hole in Morant’s offensive creation, and that may never really change. His shot is a bit odd and has a slow release, a couple of bad signs for future growth in that area.

Turnovers are another sore spot for Morant, who has a penchant for throwing too many chest passes to big men in the lane that get deflected. This, however, will certainly be remedied as he works on pocket passes in the pick-and-roll.

Despite these shortcomings the future is very bright for Ja Morant and therefore the Memphis Grizzlies, as he very well may become the primary creator for a great offense within a couple years.