Ja Morant’s return from suspension provided the Memphis Grizzlies with a much needed spark.
His season-ending injury just nine games later might have brought the Grizzlies’ hopes of being a factor this season to a screeching halt.
Morant, 24, will undergo surgery on his right shoulder for a labral tear suffered during practice on Saturday.
The Grizzlies opened the season at +1500 by DraftKings and at +2500 to win the NBA title. That was with oddsmakers knowing Morant was going to serve a 25-game suspension levied by NBA commissioner Adam Silver for a repeated instance of “conduct detrimental to the league.”
Memphis struggled out of the gate minus Morant, losing their first six games and posting a 6-19 record until his return while their title odds sunk to as low as +18000 at DraftKings. Once Morant returned on Dec. 19, the Grizzlies went 6-3 with him in the lineup, seeing their title odds rebound to +7000 by Sunday.
Then the severity of Morant’s injury became known, and oddsmakers quickly adjusted Memphis’ odds again. The Grizzlies are now +40000 to win the title at DraftKings and +25000 at BetRivers.
Despite upsetting Phoenix on the road on Sunday, Memphis is still only 13-23 on the season, including 7-20 without Morant. The Grizzlies began Tuesday with a 13-23 record overall and 4 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.
Memphis is now a +5000 longshot at BetRivers just to reach the playoffs, a far cry from the +150 odds the Grizzlies opened their once-promising season with.
GRIZZLIES FUTURES*
NBA Title
Preseason: +2500
On 1/7: +10000
On 1/9: +25000
Western Conference:
Preseason: +1200
On 1/7: +7000
On 1/9: +15000
Southwest Division:
Preseason: +150
On 1/7: +3000
On 1/9: +5000
*BetRivers
Morant is “expected to make a full recovery ahead of the 2024-25 season,” per the team.
It will go down as a lost season for the two-time All-Star, who played just nine games in 2023-24. In five NBA seasons, the former No. 2 overall pick has career averages of 22.5 points, 7.4 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game.
–Field Level Media