NBA rumors: Chris Paul shopped, Ja Morant loses out, Mark Jackson apologizes
By Ian Levy
NBA rumors: Grizzlies save $39 million as Ja Morant left off All-NBA team
For the most part, postseason awards are irrelevant, minor historical detritus, aggregated data points in a player’s legacy and hypothetical thought experiments for fans to argue over as we wait for the next playoff game to start. But since the last CBA, a few of them have real, tangible implications for players and teams.
Since the last CBA, certain achievements trigger eligibility for a player to receive a supermax contract. One of those triggers is two consecutive All-NBA selections. Ja Morant made All-NBA Second Team last season but was left off this year’s squads, negating his supermax eligibility and reducing the maximum possible value of his next contract by roughly $39 million.
Morant posted a similar stat line to last season and helped lead the Grizzlies to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. But he also saw some major regression in his shooting percentages and forced his team to navigate some serious offseason issues with new reporting on troubling incidents of violence and an Instagram Live video showing him flashing a gun inside a Denver strip club after a game.
Morant missed nine games after that last incident and never really looked quite the same after returning, topping 20 points just five times in the 13 games he played over the rest of the season and playoffs.