Memphis Grizzlies: 4 goals for Ja Morant in 2020-21

Goal 4: Improve shooting

The biggest improvement Morant can make is with his perimeter shooting. Early in the season, Morant was shooting better from the arc, likely due to shooting a lower volume of shots and the scouting reports becoming more in-depth on him further into the season.

Looking at the Pre-All Star and Post All-Star* you can see the difference; Pre All-Star Morant made 0.8 three’s game, 2.2 three’s attempted per game shooting while making 35.8 percent.

Post-All-Star Morant made 1.2 three’s per game, 3.8 three’s attempts per game shooting 30.1 percent.

*In a typical 82 game season Pre All-Star has 56 games and Post All-Star game has 26. Obviously due to the 19-20 season COVID-19 league suspension Morant only played 48 games Pre All-Star and 19 games Post All-Star.

Morant isn’t taking inefficient shots, he doesn’t take many long two’s and is always getting to the rim. The kind of shooting Morant needs to work on is unassisted, in isolation 3-point shots.

Morant shot 39.1 percent on catch and shoot three’s during the 19-20 regular season, granted on a low volume of only 1.0 attempt per game. He also shot 38.1 percent on 3-point shots when only taking one dribble per NBA.com/stats.

He’s comfortable in catch and shoot situations, and even his misses show promise, if the wind blew a different way or that slight adjustment would make them go in.

Where Ja Morant struggles from the arc is when he’s creating his own shot from three. Morant attempted 1.7 pull-ups in the regular season, only making 31.3 percent. When Morant pounds the ball, he shoots 31.4 percent — before taking a three Morant uses three or more dribbles, taking 1.1 a game per NBA.com/stats.

Morant is taking these shots in the right situations, either trying to punish a flat-footed big on a switch or using a step back to create space.

Morant comes up short in these situations, hitting the front of the ring in most of the footage – Morant can touch the top of the backboard when he’s driving, so it’s surprising that a guy would struggle shooting from deep.

That’s partly a reason to be optimistic, if Morant is 6’3” and can jump as he can, it shouldn’t take too much adjustment to fix a jumper that falls flat.

There’s no question Ja Morant can do that, the question is if the self-created shooting will translate into a game. All the best guards right now all can do it, James Harden, Damian Lillard, and Stephen Curry. Hopefully, Morant will join that group soon enough for the Memphis Grizzlies.