NBA: 5 players set up for success in 2021-22

NBA players set up for success in 2021-22: Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies 

Entering his third year in the league, I think Ja Morant is about to burst into superstardom this season. No one will deny that this dude is special. The things he can do with the basketball are ridiculous, even for NBA standards. With that being said, there are still two areas of the game where Ja needs to improve if he wants to be mentioned with the best players in the game.

Those areas are his three-point shooting and getting to the foul line more often. In his first two seasons in the league Ja has shot 33.5 percent from downtown his rookie year and 30.3 percent last season.

It seems crazy that a guy who, everytime you look, seems to be attacking the rim and attempting some acrobatic dunk only attempted 5.9 free throws last season. That may have to do with his lack of and poor three-point shooting.

Defenders know when guarding Ja that his three-point shot is the worst part of his game. Defenders then play off of him and dare him to shoot. As the young player Ja is, he’ll oftentimes see that as an insult and take the three-point shot. What he hasn’t realized is that is exactly what the defense wants. If Ja were to become a better three-point shooter, defenders would be forced to play up on him. Then, Ja could just blow past them because there’s nobody that he can’t blow by. As a result, Ja would be able to get to the rim more often, leading to more trips to the charity stripe.

By improving his three-point shot and forcing defenders to play more up on him, Ja will have easier driving lanes to the rim where he can create contact and get to the foul line more often, upping his free throw attempts. He’s killing two birds with one stone. Am I right?

Not getting to the line that often is typical for any young player. We saw that when discussing Jayson Tatum earlier in this article. There’s plenty of toher young players too that struggle in the area like Devin Booker, Michael Porter Jr., and Karl-Anthony Towns to name a few. I expect Morant to improve his three-point shooting and get to the line more often which in turn will make him an even scarier player to go up against. If Morant can improve in these two areas of his game, he will make his first all-star game. Mark it down.

Plus, in a Western Conference that sees both Kawaii Leonard and Jamaal Murray out for serious time due to injury and rumors of Damian Lillard wanting out of Portland, the young Grizzlies could surprise fans this season.

I expect Morant to carry over his incredible play in the playoffs last season against the Jazz into this season, earn his first all-star appearance and lead the Grizzlies back to the playoffs for the second straight season.