Lakers Dread Versus Lakers Reality In 2021 by John Wilmes The Lakers will either be the most spontaneous, sensationally improvised championship team of all time- or, more likely, a monster that is not actually under anyone's bed. Nobody's Supposed To Be Here by Katie Heindl Championship teams come apart. Kevin Love and the Cavs both went on grasping at the pieces that were better off burning up in a return to the atmospheric realities of a league that, healthy or not, never stops. It's Always Better To Try by Colin McGowan The Knicks are exploring the outer limits of what a not-great team can do when they play really hard every night. That counts for a lot, especially in a sleepy pandemic season.<doc-sep>In a game against the Eastern Illinois Panthers, Ja Morant, point guard for the Murray State Racers, caught some serious hang time on a dunk launched from a step inside the free throw line. Projected to be the fourth overall pick in the latest ESPN mock NBA draft, Morant already has some serious skills. The dunk started as a fast break that the 6’3” college sophomore decided to take all the way. Murray State ended up walking away with the victory over Eastern Illinois, with an 83-61 final score. The win was powered behind a 27-point, nine-assist performance by Ja Morant, with him also snagging 3 boards, a block, and a steal, as well. Those numbers are nothing out of the ordinary for the youngster. In his second season with the Racers, he is averaging 23.1 points, 10.7 assists, 6.3 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks, all while shooting 54 percent from the field. While still impressive in his freshman season, his numbers have skyrocketed this season despite only playing just under two more minutes per game. Morant is no stranger to spectacular dunks, either. Just a week ago he put down a ferocious slam that saw him leap a 6’8” defender Vince Carter style. With hops like these and a spot leading the NCAA in assists, more than two assists ahead of the next player on the list, it’s no wonder he is making so many waves regarding the 2019 NBA draft. In the current mock draft, the fourth pick belongs to the Chicago Bulls, who definitely could use a point guard like Morant. As other teams, such as the Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks, continue to look lottery bound, its likely Ja Morant will find himself a home somewhere coming off the board very early come draft night.<doc-sep>Initially, the 2019 NBA draft class wasn’t expected to produce a top point guard prospect. Well, have the tables turned over the past few months as Murray State’s Ja Morant has had a meteoric rise up draft boards. And in this latest update to my personal big board, Morant set a record for the highest jump of 12 spots right in front of Trae Young last season. Morant has also been breaking the internet this week with two insanely athletic highlight dunks. In the Ohio Valley Conference, Morant’s Racers are running away from the competition early as they look to reach March Madness once more with this new hype train leading them. Big Board 2.0 dropping today with Ja Morant up to No. 3 overall. Does Morant fit in PHX, or is he more of a bargaining chip for an All-Star trade? Jones: "If you add an 18 or 19 year old with a 20 and 21 year old, you have that 'point guard of the future' but the future is now." pic.twitter.com/DjSVuVEEcQ — Evan Sidery (@esidery) January 18, 2019 Even though Morant’s level of competition isn’t the best compared to his other counterparts in the 2019 draft class, he showed out big-time going toe-to-toe versus SEC opponents Alabama and Auburn. In those two games alone, which ended in tightly contested losses, Morant tallied 63 points (23-43 FGA), 17 rebounds, and 12 assists (15 turnovers). So far this season, Morant is averaging 23.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 10.6 assists while carrying an elite true shooting percentage of 63.6. For reference, no other college player has averaged at least 20 points and 10 assists through a full season spanning the entire Sports-Reference database. When I tried to come up with player comparisons for someone of Morant’s caliber, a supreme athlete who can jump like a bunny at the rim while surveying the floor well for playmaking purposes, some interesting ones crossed my mind: De’Aaron Fox, John Wall, and Russell Westbrook. You have probably heard plenty of the Westbrook comparison already since Morant is a nightly triple-double threat, but his blend of speed and athleticism gives me flashbacks to Fox and Wall. When you stack up Morant’s current production to Fox and Wall’s freshman seasons at Kentucky, they definitely are compatible: Morant per 36: 23.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 10.7 assists (+2.1 AST/TO), 1.6 steals Fox per 36: 20.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists (+1.9 AST/TO), 1.8 steals Wall per 36: 17.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.7 assists (+1.6 AST/TO), 1.8 steals Morant is relatively young for his class being a sophomore and having just turned 19 in August. He can certainly fill up all parts of the box score, but is he a smooth fit alongside Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, and the rest of the Suns’ young core? When Vice President of Basketball Operations spoke exclusively with Bright Side Night donors earlier this month, the point guard situation came up quickly. Jones’ response wasn’t a surprise, but he might have tipped in his hand in preferring not to bring on another young prospect aboard. “If you add an 18 or 19 year old with a 20 and 21 year old, you have that ‘point guard of the future’ but the future is now,” Jones said when he spoke about having better control over free agency and the draft to fill their PG hole rather than trades. It makes sense what Jones is saying. The Suns have seven players age 23 or under — Kelly Oubre Jr., Booker, Mikal Bridges, Josh Jackson, Ayton, De’Anthony Melton, and Elie Okobo — so would adding in another young piece stunt their hopeful progress for 2019-20? After sitting through Jackson’s development, considered one of the most NBA ready prospects who instead has taken multiple years to refine his game, maybe majority owner Robert Sarver and Jones aren’t patient enough to have another round of this with Morant or whoever else. If the Suns don’t win the Zion Williamson sweepstakes, which seems like an all-out war between 4-5 teams right now over the final half of this season, I’m leaning heavily in the direction of them deciding to trade their pick. After another disappointing season for Phoenix where it now stretches their playoff drought to nine years, will they really want to draft another rookie with the possibility of stretching that embarrassing stretch to a full decade? No, I personally don’t, and I imagine neither do Jones and Sarver. That opens up the mystery box to what could be done with the rights to Morant, if we want to play this hypothetical game. When surveying possible point guard targets via trade on draft night, many of them really don’t qualify as “blockbusters” but ones that would help push the envelope forward with the Suns’ painstakingly long rebuild. Names like Jrue Holiday and Mike Conley instantly come to mind, as does the Wall albatross contract. Scratch off Wall for disastrous reasons with his long-term salary commitment plus lengthy injury history, so that leaves Holiday and Conley. Ironically, both New Orleans and Memphis are 1.) in need of a rebuild and 2.) have point guards who won’t fit their rebuilding timeline. Could something like Ryan Anderson’s expiring contract plus the rights to Morant be enough for either New Orleans or Memphis to bite? Realistically, Phoenix would have to toss in one of their wings, most likely T.J. Warren, but that package seems more than fair for both sides. Offloading Anderson, Warren, and their pick (rights to Morant) would allow Phoenix to have just over $40 million in cap space when factoring in the cap holds for Oubre Jr. and Richaun Holmes. That’s more than enough to absorb a returning All-Star point guard and a top-notch power forward option via free agency. For the Suns to retool around Booker and Ayton properly, they will need many players capable of playing solid defense and also hitting catch-and-shoot opportunities consistently. Morant fits as the playmaker who can get everyone else involved, but his subpar defensive instincts and high usage could result in a murky fit next to the equally high usage Booker. We’ve seen it via flashes here and there, but the most optimal route for Phoenix to go would be to find a backcourt partner who doesn’t take the ball out of Booker’s hands much while also being a capable defender and facilitator. At least on the surface, Morant doesn’t really fit that mold. On the flip side, veteran options like Holiday and Conley would mesh well into that role while also helping push their timeline forward into the 2020s. For example, if this were to come to fruition, here’s how the Suns’ rotation would look: Starters - Holiday or Conley/Booker/Bridges/?/Ayton Bench Mob - Melton, Jackson, Oubre, Holmes, Okobo If Phoenix believes the future is really now, then that signals it’s time to make some aggressive moves in 2019 to fulfill this statement. Sure, you could also make the case that Morant would ease the burden off Booker while opening up more spacing for others, but that’s relying on all of the Suns’ above-average young defenders (Melton, Bridges, Oubre) take the step to elite in Year 2. Like we have started to really lock in on with Warren’s fit started to become an issue with his lack of defensive ability, Phoenix could lock themselves into that again with Morant. From what I can gather, the Suns seem like a team where it’s totally Zion or bust for them. If they don’t get lottery luck for the second consecutive season, get ready for them to take plenty of phone calls on their top pick this summer. After this Morant versus veteran point guard debate, my second installment of my lottery big board is below, outlining how certain players fluctuated from their original spots, plus included a quick synopsis on each prospect. If you want to check out Lottery Big Board 1.0, click here. 1. Zion Williamson, Wing/Big, Duke (-) Nothing much to say here. I’ll stand by my previous statement that Zion is the best college prospect since Anthony Davis. Really, there should be no debate with that.<doc-sep>
Murray State sophomore point guard Ja Morant is drawing comparisons to Russell Westbrook this year given his athleticism and ability to take over games and lead the Racers. The 6-foot-3 guard is averaging 23.5 points, 10.5 assists and 1.8 steals this season as his Racers are 12-2 and in first place in the Ohio Valley Conference. Morant currently ranks 10th in the country in scoring while his 10.5 assists lead all qualified players in Division I, and he leads by a wide margin — Alex Robinson of TCU is second with 8.4 per game. Speaking during the Louisville and North Carolina game Saturday afternoon, ESPN analyst Jay Bilas compared Morant to Westbrook and believes he will be a top-five pick in this year’s draft. Jay Bilas just compared Murray State point guard Ja Morant to Russell Westbrook and believes he will be a top-five NBA Draft pick. — Cody Taylor (@CodyTaylorNBA) January 12, 2019 As written over on SB Nation, Murray State played Alabama earlier this season with over 30 NBA scouts in attendance to get a glimpse of Morant. He scored 38 points and nine assists in that game and drew high praise from Crimson Tide head coach Avery Johnson. “I saw flashbacks of a lot of guys I played against,” Johnson said, via AL.com. “Whether it’s the old Isiah Thomas — the Detroit Pistons Isiah Thomas — that craftiness and cleverness. John Stockton passing ability. Russell Westbrook athletic ability. My god.” Morant recently set social media on fire Thursday when he offered his own rendition of Vince Carter’s infamous dunk from the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and he nailed it. He also recorded set a school record for 18 assists during that game, too. JA Morant's earth-shattering poster dunk… … as called by Gus Johnson. pic.twitter.com/YKYxULkLs5 — FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 11, 2019 Given his abilities, Morant is currently projected by Jonathan Givony of ESPN to be the No. 4 overall pick in the NBA Draft this year, just behind star freshmen Nassir Little, R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson. Most point to the fact that Morant is a much better shooter than Westbrook and that figures to translate well at the next level. Now armed with plenty of hype, Morant will lead Murray State through the Ohio Valley Conference this season and try to position his team for a trip to the NCAA Tournament, and they will likely need to win the conference in order to do so. Remember this guy…his name will be called right after Zion and Barrett. He’s the real deal. https://t.co/EThDCiyVdQ — Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) January 12, 2019 As a freshman last year, the Racers lost to No. 5 seed West Virginia in the first round as Morant scored 14 points during the loss. The country will surely be rooting him on this season to watch him on the big stage, likely for the last time.