Ja Morant Ready to Be 'A Different Ja' With Trail Blazers

📍LAS VEGAS — Late Friday night in the Cox Pavilion, Ja Morant made his first public appearance with the Trail Blazers since the shocking June 29 trade from the Memphis Grizzlies. Sitting courtside with virtually all of his new teammates as well as his new coach and general manager, Morant took in the Blazers' Summer League team's 81-79 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

Twelve hours later, in a conference room at the Wynn on Saturday morning, Morant met with a small group of mostly local reporters for the first time since the trade, taking questions for about 11 minutes.

Much of what he said was what you'd expect to hear from a player of his stature changing teams. He's excited for a fresh start with a new team. He'll always love the city of Memphis and the Grizzlies fanbase that stuck with him through seven tumultuous years, but he can't wait to start engaging with Blazers fans in Portland. He's excited to get to the Pacific Northwest because he's gotten into nature recently. He's going to be "a different Ja."

But there was one exchange that got to the heart of why Morant is in Portland now and not Memphis, why it took so little for the Blazers to trade for him and, most importantly, the opportunity Morant has in front of him to rewrite his career.