The Phoenix Suns are in desperate need of a point guard, and the best available, through any means of acquisition, will likely be Ja Morant.
Regardless of who else the Phoenix suns acquire this offseason, the addition of a star point guard is paramount. As I go through the key faces and who the Suns could potentially draft all throughout the lottery, the most important one, more than even Zion Williamson, is Murray State’s Ja Morant.
Ja’s play has earned him a space towards the top of every draft board. We saw both the good and bad of Morant in Murray State’s short stint in the Tournament where he dominated in their victory over Marquette putting up a triple-double and having seemingly full control of the game, but then, against Florida State, we saw some of the bad with Morant struggling with the length and athleticism of FSU, and as he was unable to carry his Murray State team, they were defeated soundly.
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Morant has shown a load of potential and a dynamic game that will certainly slot him the top-5 come June. So What can his stats tell us about his game?
Ja Morant’s calling card in college was his ability to create shots not only for himself but also for his teammates. Morant displayed an arsenal of moves to create space and force help which he consistently took advantage of with accurate passes.
Ja averaged 10 assists per game and according to KenPom, carried an assist rate of 51.9 (this is the percentage of teammates who made shots that player assists on while on the court) which led the NCAA by 6(!) points.
Absolutely incredible.
Passing and shot creation might be Ja’s best trait as he moves into the NBA, and his numbers show an inarguable elite-level skill, including strong growth that he made from his freshman season where his assist rate was 33%.
We too see his shot creation for himself by his ability to score where he averaged 24.5 points per game, good for 8th in the NCAA, and coupled with his assist rate combined allowed him to lead him in all of Division 1 college basketball in points produced.
On top of this, Ja displayed an ability to get to the line as he was top-20 in fouls drawn per 40 minutes with 6.9 which will even further bolster his ability to score in the NBA – James Harden, you might have some competition.
His FT% of 81.3 is also pretty good, so hopefully he can continue to get to the line as he did in college.
In his sophomore (and now final) season at Murray State, Ja’s his shooting numbers were solid shooting 36.3% from 3, 55.6% from 2, for a stellar 49.9% from the field overall.
However, he still has plenty of upside shooting the ball if he can rework some of his mechanics as he starts with the ball too low and his release remains low which puts him at high risk to get his shots blocked in the NBA with taller and more athletic competition.
There are also rumblings that he could be shooting with the wrong hand given he seems to be left-handed but shoots with his right.
Ja’s all-in-one metrics are pretty good as well posting an 8.2 Win Shares, good for 4th in the NCAA and a PER of 31.6 which was 9th overall this season.
Beyond his offensive numbers, nothing else really jumps out. He posted low rebounding and block numbers, but that is to be expected for an undersized guard.
Overall, a lot of both Ja’s strengths and weaknesses are hard to measure.
His athleticism and transition game are both major pros but can’t be captured with stats, while similarly his defensive focus and limitations due to his frame can’t really be accurately captured as well.
On top of this, we also have to factor the level of competition he faced as the Ohio Valley Conference does not have the consistent talent across the board that the power five conferences do.
Much of the scouting of Ja will have to be film based but the numbers above can give us a general idea of what to expect from him in the league.