Ja Morant's first NBA season ended in a Florida bubble, in a play-in game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Six years later he is a Trail Blazer himself. As a Portland shop, we have been thinking about that first season in Memphis: the dunks, the Rookie of the Year vote, the bubble, and the rookie cards that rode the 2020 card boom. Here is a look back, and a look at what comes next.
From Murray State to the No. 2 pick
Morant was unranked coming out of high school and ended up at Murray State in Kentucky. As a sophomore he averaged 24.5 points and 10.0 assists, the first player to average 20 and 10 since the NCAA began tracking assists in 1983-84. On March 21, 2019, he had 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 16 assists as 12th-seeded Murray State beat fifth-seeded Marquette in the NCAA tournament, the tournament's first triple-double since Draymond Green's in 2012. Three months later, on June 20, 2019, the Memphis Grizzlies took him second overall, one pick after Zion Williamson.
The rookie season
Early in his rookie season, on October 27, 2019, against the Brooklyn Nets, he blocked Kyrie Irving's last shot of regulation to force overtime, then set up Jae Crowder's winning three at the buzzer in a 134-133 win. He finished with 30 points and 9 assists. In December he dunked over Aron Baynes, and later that month he tried to dunk over Kevin Love, missed, and explained afterward, "He was in the way." On February 9, 2020, he put up 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists against Washington, the only triple-double by a rookie that season.
He played 67 games and averaged 17.8 points and 7.3 assists. On the night of March 11, 2020, the NBA suspended the season after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for COVID-19, and when play resumed that summer it was inside a bubble at Walt Disney World near Orlando.
The bubble, and two games against Portland
Memphis opened its bubble schedule against Portland on July 31, 2020, and lost 140-135 in overtime. The two teams met again on August 15 in a play-in game for the last playoff spot in the West. Morant scored 35, but Damian Lillard had 31 points and 10 assists, making all 14 of his free throws, CJ McCollum scored 29, and Jusuf Nurkic added 22 points and 21 rebounds. Portland won 126-122. Lillard, named the player of the seeding games, looked ahead to the top-seeded Lakers and told reporters, "We can beat anybody."
Less than three weeks later, on September 3, 2020, Morant was named Rookie of the Year with 99 of 100 first-place votes, the second Grizzly to win the award after Pau Gasol in 2001-02.
After Grit and Grind
Morant's arrival marked a new era in Memphis. Tony Allen had coined "Grit and Grind" in 2011 to describe the Zach Randolph, Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, and Allen teams that made seven straight postseasons. Jaren Jackson Jr. described the new group as "Next gen. Run 'n' gun. We build off Grit and Grind." There is a Portland thread here too: Memphis acquired Desmond Bane in November 2020 through a three-team trade with Boston and Portland. That core has since been broken up. Bane was traded to Orlando in June 2025, and Jackson to Utah in February 2026.
The years in between were harder for Morant. Injuries and two NBA suspensions in 2023 kept him off the floor for long stretches, and he played 79 games across the three seasons starting in 2023-24.
The Donruss Optic Rated Rookie
The Rated Rookie logo is one of the oldest marks in card collecting. It first appeared in 1984 Donruss baseball, on 20 cards in a 660-card set, and Panini still prints it on selected rookie cards. Donruss Optic is the chromium version of the flagship Donruss set, printed on Panini's glossy Optichrome stock. The Optic line began with baseball in 2016 and moved to basketball with the 2016-17 season.
The 2019-20 Donruss Optic basketball set was released on February 12, 2020, about a month before the season stopped. It has 200 cards, with Rated Rookies running from #151 to #200, and Morant's is #168. Besides the base card, it comes in a Holo parallel and numbered parallels, including Orange /199, Red /99, Blue /59, Gold /10, Green /5, and a one-of-one Gold Vinyl. His Prizm rookie is a separate card from a different product.
PSA 10 · 2019-20 Donruss Optic
Morant's Donruss Optic Rated Rookie from his first season in Memphis, graded PSA 10 Gem Mint. Cert 46480150.
$50.00 View card
Rookie cards and the 2020 boom
Morant's rookie class arrived just as sports cards took off. Collectors stuck at home during the shutdown went back to their old hobbies, grading companies were buried in submissions, and PSA suspended its lower-priced tiers in March 2021. Sports Illustrated's collectibles desk called Morant a "co-driver" of the basketball card resurgence. His Prizm base rookie in PSA 10 went from about $300 before the shutdown to $831 in January 2021, then fell to $158 by that summer. The same wave hit Pokémon cards, as we cover in our guide to Vivid Voltage and the 2020 boom.
Card Ladder's index of Morant cards rose about 500 percent from 2020 to early 2022, then fell back, and by October 2025 his cards were down 44 percent from a year earlier. In the month after the trade to Portland, the index was up 1.18 percent.
Ja Morant and the Blazers
On June 29, 2026, reports broke that Memphis was trading Morant to Portland for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray. No draft picks changed hands, and Memphis also sent Portland $1 million in cash. Memphis was coming off a 25-57 season and had drafted Cameron Boozer third overall. Portland had gone 42-40 and hired Micah Nori as head coach. Morant's contract pays him $42.17 million this season.
At Summer League in July, Morant said: "New home. New team. New organization. I get to show the fans in Portland a different Ja. It's like starting all over again." He switched to No. 1, and later that month the Blazers launched a "Call Ja" campaign that invited fans to leave him voicemails. His clip for it ends with "Rip City, you called?"
He joins a roster that includes Deni Avdija, a 2026 All-Star and Portland's first since Lillard, and Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson in the backcourt. Lillard is also back, having re-signed with Portland in July 2025 after the Bucks waived him, and he missed all of last season recovering from a torn Achilles. The player who beat Morant in the bubble play-in is now his teammate.
When to watch
Media day is September 28. The Blazers open the regular season on October 21 against Phoenix. Memphis visits the Moda Center on October 29, and Morant returns to Memphis on February 6.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Ja Morant's rookie card? Morant's rookie cards come from the 2019-20 season. His Donruss Optic Rated Rookie is #168 in the Optic set, and his Panini Prizm rookie is a separate card from a different product. Both come in many parallels.
What does Rated Rookie mean? Rated Rookie is a logo Donruss has used since its 1984 baseball set to mark the rookies it picked out as prospects. Panini, which now owns Donruss, still prints it on selected rookie cards.
Did Ja Morant get traded to the Blazers? Yes. The trade was reported on June 29, 2026. Portland sent Jerami Grant and Kris Murray to Memphis, no draft picks were exchanged, and Memphis sent Portland $1 million in cash.
Are Ja Morant and Damian Lillard teammates? Yes. Lillard re-signed with Portland in July 2025 and missed the 2025-26 season recovering from a torn Achilles. Both are on the 2026-27 roster.
When does Ja Morant play Memphis? Memphis visits Portland's Moda Center on October 29, 2026, and Morant returns to Memphis on February 6, 2027.
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