Memphis Grizzlies: 3 bold predictions for the 2020-21 season
2. Ja Morant makes the All-Star Game as a sophomore
Ja Morant played college basketball at Murray State, hardly a basketball powerhouse despite a few frisky NCAA Tournament runs. Morant helmed one such showing, willing the “Racers” to a first-round upset in 2019 before he was selected with the second overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Morant wasted no time, blowing through the gates to put up one of the best rookie seasons from a point guard in recent memory. Morant averaged 17.8 points and 7.3 assists per game, which rank 15th and 8th, respectively, among rookies since 2000-01. The only other player in the top-15 of both was Trae Young. In Young’s second season as a starter, he was named to the All-Star team.
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Morant is absolutely going to take another step forward after winning Rookie of the Year last season. His competitive fire and natural skill form the bedrock for annual improvements from now throughout his prime. He should score more, improve as a playmaker and get more consistent on defense. He will absolutely be deserving of All-Star consideration.
Will he make the team in a field much more crowded than Young’s Eastern Conference? It will be difficult, but he absolutely can. Damian Lillard and Stephen Curry are locks, as is Paul George, but Morant absolutely can jostle with the likes of Jamal Murray, Donovan Mitchell and Devin Booker. James Harden might be in the mix, or he might be shipped out to the East.
The Memphis Grizzlies are used to having their star point guards left out in the cold. Mike Conley is one of the greatest guards to never make an All-Star team. In franchise history, the team has just six All-Star selections, all of them big men: Marc and Pau Gasol, and Zach Randolph. Ja Morant will change that and is on a trajectory to double up the franchise’s six. That starts this season, as Morant shows the league he was not a flash-in-the-pan.