Why Ja Morant Will Be Better Than Prime Russ and D-Rose (If He Isn’t Already) | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

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You might think the way Ja Morant has played through the early part of the 2022-23 season defies comparison. Actually, it invites it.

Kevin Durant, who is something of an authority on basketball greatness, won’t let Morant’s excellence live in isolation. Prior to the Memphis Grizzlies’ 134-124 win over Durant’s Nets on Monday, in which Morant erupted for 38 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, KD invoked a couple of past greats in an effort to describe the ascending superstar.

“I’ve been in the league with [Derrick] Rose and Russell Westbrook,” Morant told Nick Friedell of ESPN, “so many athletic guards I’m missing, but those two stick out the most to me. The stuff they were doing was unheard of, and you’re seeing other guys doing the same thing. I’m sure [Morant is] inspired by those two as well.”

The league leader in scoring through four games and the new owner of a deadly three-point shot to go with his pantheon-level athleticism, Morant isn’t just in the same class as the two MVPs Durant mentioned. He’s on track to be better than both of them.

Allow this to serve as the exclamation point that last sentence probably deserved:

Westbrook’s MVP season in 2016-17 was one for the ages. He averaged a triple-double, carried the Oklahoma City Thunder to the postseason with a never-ending string of clutch brilliance, led the NBA in box plus/minus and set the single-season record for usage rate. Morant hasn’t put together a season of that magnitude. But Westbrook never came close to matching that level of stat-stuffing dominance before and hasn’t since, and Morant’s trajectory suggests he can produce one of even greater value.

At 23, Russ was an All-Star who put up 23.6 points, 5.5 assists and 4.6 rebounds. At the same age, Morant is sitting pretty at 35.3 points, 7.0 assists and 4.3 rebounds. Those figures will normalize, but it’s hard to argue Morant isn’t the superior player, especially when you factor in efficiency. Westbrook shot 45.7 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from deep at age 23; Morant’s shooting split is 54.8/60.0. Those figures will also regress, but Morant’s 49.3/34.4 numbers last year were better than anything Westbrook managed at his best.

Ja Now vs. D-Rose at His Best

Rose won his MVP in his age-22 season while leading the Chicago Bulls to a league-best 62 wins. He averaged 25.0 points, 7.7 assists and 4.1 assists with a 55.0 true shooting percentage and—holy smokes—that’s where the comparison pivots aggressively in Morant’s favor. That season was obviously Rose’s best before injuries derailed his career, and Morant has already had a better campaign—last year…in his age-22 season.

Though Ja’s Grizzlies didn’t rack up 62 wins, his stat line surpasses Rose’s in conspicuous ways. Morant averaged 27.4 points, 6.7 assists and 5.7 rebounds with a 57.5 true shooting percentage. That last figure is higher than any Rose produced in his career. Ditto for Westbrook, who topped out at 54.5 in 2015-16 and 2016-17.

The Dagger(s)

Forget all the full-season stuff for a second. A more immediate comparison might make the case clearer. Westbrook has had only three games, all of which came at the age of 28 or later, in which he matched Morant’s Monday line of 38 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while shooting at least 54.0 percent from the field with at least four made triples. If you filter for turnovers (Morant had just two), Westbrook has never had a game that compares to what Morant just did.

Rose never had a 38/8/7 game in which he shot 54.0 percent or better, let alone one with four made threes.

The triples, really, are the key. Though Morant sprinkled highlights of all sorts throughout the win, his last bucket was the most interesting for our purposes.

Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Accurate through Monday.