MikeCheck: Morant’s ‘day trip’ provides cool boost as Grizzlies grind through hot summer nights
Michael WallaceLAS VEGAS – As the Grizzlies were mounting a ferocious late rally for their first win in NBA 2K26 Summer League play over the weekend, there was no shortage of key contributors.
Summer team catalyst Jaylen Wells finally regained his shot.
Rookie second-round pick Jahmai Mashack returned from a tight hamstring.
And the Grizzlies collectively turned the game around with ball-hawking defense.
But one effort stood out among the most clutch of them all.
“It was big-time,” Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo shared through a wide grin. “It speaks a lot about his investment in his leadership to come out here and check out the young guys, to just be there for them. It really, really matters for everybody who’s in this.”
No, Ja Morant didn’t contribute a thing to actual box score the other night.
But his presence was a significant factor in a confidence-boosting breakthrough for the young roster standouts, draft picks and aspiring prospects on the Grizzlies’ summer league team.
As he prepares for a trek to China later this month on a Nike promotional tour, Morant made a quick trip to Las Vegas to join several teammates and vets acquired by the Grizzlies this offseason. What Morant half-jokingly referred to as “a day trip,” Iisalo viewed as a vital contribution to the new foundation he’s establishing entering his first full season as coach.
With a team in transition along many fronts this summer, Iisalo doesn’t take any moments for granted when there’s a chance to build chemistry and strengthen communication. That is especially the case as the team further reshapes the roster around the franchise catalysts in Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., the Grizzlies’ longest-tenured player entering his eighth year.
A day after Morant sat courtside while calling out sets and yelling encouragement as the Grizzlies defeated Portland, the Grizzlies officially announced a renegotiated contract with Jackson on a reported deal worth $240 million over the next five seasons.
Morant, also extension-eligible this summer, said Jackson was “deserving” of the deal and much more. He also shared he’s expecting to accomplish “a lot” this coming season, even as the Grizzlies will enter October training camp with a first-year coach, a revamped supporting cast and a rookie lottery pick in swingman Cedric Coward in a loaded Western Conference.
Coward, the No. 11 pick in last month’s draft, is likely to miss all of summer league as he finalizes rehab from the shoulder surgery he had after just six games last season at Washington State. Despite being limited in workouts for teams leading into the draft, Coward’s measurements and testing at the NBA Combine in May boosted his stock among suitors.
Morant described Coward as an exciting prospect he can’t wait to work with in training camp. Another new teammate Morant spoke of was veteran guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a two-time NBA champion the Grizzlies landed in the trade that sent Desmond Bane to Orlando.
Morant shared the Grizzlies’ backcourt with Bane for the past five seasons, including two years when Memphis posted consecutive 50-win seasons and finished second in the West standings. But as keeping the Jackson-Morant-Bane core became significantly pricier at a time when there was limited playoff success to show for it, the Grizzlies shifted directions after this past season.
Taylor Jenkins was dismissed in March amid the team’s late-season struggles. Iisalo coached the final month of the season and was promoted from the interim role after the Grizzlies were swept in the first-round of the playoffs by eventual NBA champion Oklahoma City.
Summer league action has given the Grizzlies a chance to reset and pivot as Iisalo installs an offense predicated on spacing and speed and a full-court pressure defense. Morant saw that system blossom in the second half Saturday, when the young Grizzlies came back from an 11-point deficit early in the third quarter and used a 47-20 onslaught to gain control.
That victory ended a three-game losing streak Memphis was on since winning their debut in the Salt Lake City Summer League a week earlier. The Grizzlies return to action after two days off in Las Vegas when they face Golden State on Tuesday.
Chances are, Morant will be long gone by then. But the magnitude of the moments he spent weren’t lost on the young Grizzlies or the coach with whom he continues to build a relationship.
“Being here in person means a lot, not only to these guys but the organization as well,” Morant assured. “For me to be the leader of this team, it’s very important. So, I took this day trip.”
Morant’s time this summer may be limited.
But the Vegas stop was a trip well spent.
Published on Jul 14, 2025
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