LAS VEGAS -- Ja Morant said Saturday that his offseason trade from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Portland Trail Blazers will give him the chance to "start fresh" and prove that his "bad guy" image is a misconception.
The two-time All-Star guard made four trips to the playoffs during his seven-year run with the Grizzlies, but his time in Memphis was complicated by a pair of gun-related suspensions in 2023.
"What would I like cleared up? I think you know the answer to that. My image. [That] I'm a bad guy," Morant said in his first public comments since the June trade. "I'm Ja. I've done what I've done in the past, but it's been addressed and handled already. I don't see why, years later, that's still the topic when nothing's happened since. If I was that guy, y'all wouldn't be talking to me now. I wouldn't be here."
Morant served an eight-game ban in March 2023 for conduct detrimental to the league and a 25-game suspension to open the 2023-24 season, both of which stemmed from incidents of him displaying a firearm on an Instagram livestream. The Grizzlies suspended him for one game in November because of a heated confrontation with coach Tuomas Iisalo after a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Blazers traded forwards Jerami Grant and Kris Murray for the 26-year-old Morant, who was the second pick in the 2019 NBA draft. Morant joins a talented and guard-heavy roster that includes Damian Lillard, Deni Avdija, Jrue Holiday, Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe.
"New home. New team. New organization," Morant said, wearing a black polo shirt with the team's logo as he addressed a handful of reporters at Las Vegas summer league. "I get to show the fans in Portland a different Ja. It's like starting all over again.... Over the years, I've grown a lot and learned a lot. My mindset changed. I go into things differently now. I feel more mature, and I'm ready to work."
Morant, a South Carolina native who attended college in Kentucky, has some familiarity with his new home across the country: The Nike-sponsored athlete has made regular summer trips to the Portland area to visit the sneaker company's headquarters, and he said he once braved the Pacific Northwest rain to go fishing.