NBA Draft 2019: Predicting best first round picks 5 years from now

Ja Morant

The 2nd pick of this years draft shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone here either.

The 6’3 175 pound “Point God” put up insane numbers of 24.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 10 apg, 1.8 spg, & 0.8 bpg last season at Murray State. Many people believed that him putting up these insane numbers was due in part thanks to weaker competition that he went up against. During the March Madness tournament he shushed all doubters. He posted a 17 point, 16 assist, 11 rebound triple double in the upset victory against Marquette. The feat was the 9th in March Madness history and the first triple double since Draymond Green did it in 2012.

So what makes Morant so good? Obviously his ability to post near triple double numbers, but what does he bring to the table in order for him to fill up the stat sheet the way he does?

Morant uses his speed and athleticism to his advantage on the offensive side of things. His constant always attacking mindset puts tons of pressure on opposing defenses, and once he uses his speed to blow by a defender, his insane leaping ability allows him to finish with authority at the rim. He has grown popular thanks to his jaw dropping jams, but his best trait on the court is hands down his passing ability. Morant’s basketball IQ is so high, and the game goes so slow to him. If the game goes slow to a guy going fast then… you’ve got a real problem. When Morant attacks and gets his opponents on their heels, he does it willing to pass to his teammates who may be open thanks to a collapsing defense, as his teammates defensive match up helps down to try to stop him.

Morant is probably his most deadly when working out of the pick and roll which sways us into our other reason on why he will be considered one of the best players in the draft five years from now.

The Memphis Grizzlies drafted Jaren Jackson Jr. 4th overall in last years draft, and could be absolutely LETHAL running the pick and roll with Morant at the point. When coming off a screen by Jackson Jr. Morant has the ability to run hard down hill off of it and finish at the rim, or can stretch the defenders away from the basket and draw attention from JJJ and throw a beautiful lob which would turn into a nice alley-oop jam.

Morant, who has the upside to be a better passing Derrick Rose, and Jaren Jackson Jr. who has the upside to be a prime Kevin Garnett could very well take this league by storm.

With Mike Conley out of the picture, the keys to the Grizzlies offense is in Ja Morant’s hands, and 5 years from now we will view him as one of the elite to come out of this draft class.