Memphis Grizzlies star point guard Ja Morant is set to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder, the team announced on Monday evening. Morant, who missed the first 25 games of the campaign due to a suspension, returned to action and made his season debut on Dec. 19.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 All right, so brutal news out of Memphis.
00:02 John Morant out for the season, shoulder injury.
00:05 Going to sideline him for the rest of the year.
00:08 Short term, this means that Memphis' season is effectively over.
00:13 The Grizzlies were already in a pretty big hole,
00:17 but even with John Morant back,
00:18 it was still going to be an uphill climb just for them to get into the play-in.
00:23 They were going to have to play 600 basketball
00:26 just really to get into the play-in mix.
00:28 They were 6-3 with John in the lineup,
00:31 but even with him back and healthy, it was going to be difficult.
00:34 Now with him out, they can turn their focus to next season.
00:38 If there is a silver lining to this Morant injury,
00:41 it's that because of the injuries that they've had this season,
00:46 to Steven Adams, to Brandon Clark, and now to John Morant,
00:50 they're going to sink in the standings.
00:51 They're going to wind up in that mid-lottery range,
00:53 and they're going to add what should be a really good young player to this mix.
00:58 Next season, you're going to go into next year with presumably a healthy John Morant,
01:03 a healthy Jaron Jackson, Desmond Bain, who is a terrific player,
01:07 Brandon Clark, who is no longer going to be rushed back from his injury,
01:11 hopefully with a healthy Steven Adams, Marcus Smart in the mix,
01:15 some good role players there,
01:16 and a good young lottery pick that maybe they weren't counting on at this point.
01:22 This was always going to be a lost year for Memphis.
01:26 It was snakebitten from the start because of the Morant suspension.
01:29 Now, it's all but over.
01:31 They can focus on next season, where hopefully,
01:34 they can go into it with more talent than they had coming into this year.