Marcus Smart sends scary warning about Ja Morant-Zach Edey duo
10/09/2024 08:16 PM
The Memphis Grizzlies plan to be cautious with Ja Morant following an injury scare. The superstar point guard suffered an ankle injury during the team’s preseason game against the Dallas Mavericks, and they need him at full strength. The Grizzlies could have something scary brewing with the Ja Morant and Zach Edey two-man game, at least teammate Marcus Smart thinks so.
Marcus Smart recently spoke about how the addition of Edey will impact the team on the court this upcoming season, as per Grant Afseth of Sportskeeda.
“Oh it’s going to be deadly, man. It’s just going to open up things even more for us, especially for Ja. We all know what Ja can do with a little bit of space, so just image what he can do with a lot of space cleared out by a big like Zach.”
Zach Edey gives the Grizzlies a legit center and size in the frontcourt. The team selected Edey with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft amid concerns about how his game might translate to the NBA. But the former Purdue big man played well in summer league.
And he played well in the Grizzlies preseason opener against the Mavericks. He finished with six points, seven rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot.
Ja Morant’s return to the Grizzlies
Ja Morant was suspended for the first 25 games of the 2023-24 season, but when he made his season debut he showed no signs of being rusty or out of shape. Unfortunately for the Grizzlies, Morant suffered a shoulder injury that ended up sidelining him for the majority of the year.
But Morant is back and set to make his return to the Grizzlies lineup. With him in the lineup, the Grizzlies’ ceiling is raised significantly. Last year they did not make the playoffs amid several key injuries. But if fully healthy, this team looks like they could be a factor in the Western Conference standings.
Morant had been coming off consecutive All-Star seasons before last year. He was only able to appear in nine games for the Grizzlies during 2023-24. He averaged 25.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 8.1 assists with splits of 47.1 percent shooting from the field, 27.5 percent shooting from the three-point line and 81.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
One of the next steps in his continued elevation is getting his three-point percentage up to a slightly higher efficiency. He’s a career 31.8 percent shooter from three and the highest percentage he’s ever shot is 34.4 percent. He can shoot the three-ball consistently though.
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