Ja Morant pens five-year contract extension with Memphis / News - Basketnews.com

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Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies agreed to sign a five-year, $193 million contract extension Thursday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported.

Ja Morant

MIN:33.74PTS:27.51 (56.01%)REB:6.05As:7.15ST:1.25BL:0.4TO:3.45GM:65ProfileNBA2021/2022

It’s the biggest contract in Grizzlies history, according to Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian, topping the $153MM deal Mike Conley signed in 2016. Morant, who will turn 23 in August, has improved in each of his three NBA seasons, earning his first All-Star and All-NBA nods in 2021-22 and winning the league’s Most Improved Player award.

Morant’s extension will include Rose Rule language allowing him to earn a starting salary worth 30% of the 2023/24 cap instead of 25% if he makes an All-NBA team again next season.

Based on the NBA’s latest cap projection of $133MM for the 2023-24 season, Morant’s deal would be worth $231.42MM if he meets the Rose Rule criteria next season, or $192.85MM if he doesn’t. The Rose Rule criteria require a player to earn an All-NBA spot in the season before his rookie scale extension goes into effect to qualify for the 30% max, which is why Morant will have to make it again next year despite claiming a spot on the Second Team this spring.

Morant has been sensational since getting drafted by the Grizzlies in 2019. The point guard took a massive jump into his third year, as he improved his scoring by over eight points per game. Morant managed to average 27.4 points, 6.7 assists and 5.7 rebounds last season.

The 2019-20 Rookie of the Year, Morant's numbers took a step back last season. The main culprit was his decreasing efficiency. All of Morant's shooting percentages fell, with the point guard hitting just 44.9% of his field goals and 72.8% of his free throws.

In his final seven appearances, Morant averaged 29.4 points, 7.6 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 2.4 threes across 41.3 minutes on 48/37/73 shooting.

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