Why Ja Morant Will Be Better Than Prime Russ and D-Rose (If He Isn't Already)

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 D-Rose and Russell Westbrook," Morant told Nick Friedell of ESPN, "so many athletic guards I'm missing, but those two stick out 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 former 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:

Withhold accusations of blasphemy. Or at least give KD some credit for knowing what he's talking about. He's been flinging flowers at Morant for a while.

Morant's speed, creativity and general stiff-arming of the laws of physics are the obvious jumping-off point for these comparisons. At the very least, he's in the same tier of athleticism Russ and Rose once occupied. But can Ja really stack up statistically?

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 yet. 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 putting up 23.6 points, 5.5 assists and 4.6 rebounds. At the same age this year, Morant is sitting pretty at 34.3 points, 7.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds. Those numbers will normalize, but it's hard to argue Morant isn't the superior player when adjusting for age, 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 54.8/57.1. Those figures will also regress, but Morant's 49.3/34.4 numbers from last year were better than anything Westbrook managed at his best.

Rose, too, won an MVP. And he did it 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 MVP season was obviously Rose's best before injury derailed his career, and Morant has already had a better campaign: last year...in his matching 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 in 2021-22. That last number is higher than any Rose produced at any point in his career. Ditto for Westbrook, who topped out at 54.5 percent true shooting in his MVP season.

Forget all the full-season stuff for a second. A more immediate comparison might make the case clearer. Westbrook had only three games in his entire career, 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 with four made threes.

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

That was his fourth trey of the contest, and it sealed the result while illustrating a key difference between Morant and his predecessors. Kyrie Irving is giving Ja the cushion demanded by the scouting report. The Nets and every team Morant faces know that crowding him results in blow-by drives and finishes that require apology notes to friends and loved ones of any rim-protector unlucky enough to be in the vicinity. Morant sees that space and simply slings a smooth jumper from two steps behind the line.

Westbrook and Rose were overwhelming downhill attackers, gifted with elite burst, change-of-direction and lift. But they never put defenders to a decision like this. Rose and Westbrook were great in spite of their outside shots; Morant will be greater because of his. Those two force-fed defenders one kind of poison, while Morant lets opponents pick.

At least teams knew if they contained a Russ or D-Rose drive, they had a chance. The helplessness that comes from watching Morant drill deep threes off the dribble demoralizes.

With such fast-developing skill and a statistical track record that already puts Morant ahead of the pace set by a couple of previous greats, we (and KD) might not be making these comparisons much longer. Or, if we are, we'll be asking if the next generationally talented guard has a chance to touch the heights Morant is reaching right now.

Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Accurate through Monday, Oct. 24. Salary info via Spotrac.