On January 12, Beijing time, the Grizzlies won 10 consecutive wins, and the record came to 29 wins and 14 losses, and the gap between them and the Jazz, only the gap between the game, with a 0.01% win rate, temporarily ranked fourth in the West. It is worth mentioning that during the 10-game winning streak, the Grizzlies have beaten the Top Two Suns and Warriors in the West, as well as the Clippers, and the Second Nets in the East, the Cavaliers with good momentum.
For the rapid rise of the Grizzlies, the core of the team, Morant, must be the first credit, he averaged 27.9 points, 6.4 assists and 6.3 rebounds per game during this period, shooting 52%, efficient and all-round. In addition, he also left a lot of classic pictures, such as facing the Lakers, when Bradley went to the basket, directly completed the two-handed grasping cap, and a flat-framed air connection, and the physical fitness was very explosive. More importantly, Morant or "Mr. Key", in the moment when the team needs him the most, he can always stand up, and he personally does not shy away from it, saying in the face of the interview: I just like that kind of pressure, I feel that it is my most shining moment, I want to be the person who shoots, whether it is shooting or losing.
Under his excellent performance, he also won the best of the week for two consecutive weeks. However, the seemingly "arrogant" Morant actually has a bottom line. For example, in this game against the Warriors, many people noticed that after an attack, he angrily stared at a small fan wearing a Warriors jersey. After the game, he said: "It was disrespectful for him to wear that shirt, we were Memphis, he looked like he wanted to cheer, but he wore that shirt. I apologized to him, but at that moment, took off that jersey and celebrated with me again. Can anyone find his profile? I'll send him one of my jerseys.
Against this backdrop, as long as Morant is not seriously injured and has locked in a top salary, according to BR sports reporter Erin Walsh, Morant is eligible for a five-year, $181 million top salary contract this summer, and the Grizzlies management is ready to pull out cash to keep the cornerstone of the team. However, I believe some fans remember that Morant wrote in the offseason when he forwarded his training photos: "I only want a big contract like the kind that Mahomes got." Mahomes was the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs quarterback when he signed the team to a sky-high 503 million-dollar contract extension for 10 years.
Therefore, although it is also the maximum salary, it is not the best choice for Morant, because according to the current performance of Morant, there is basically no suspense in being selected to the best team this season, as long as he works harder next season and is selected to the best team again, he can trigger the Rose clause. This means that his top salary price is expected to increase from 25% of the salary cap to 30%.
Of course, looking back at the history of the NBA, the rookie who can sign 30% of the maximum salary should be only Rose, and griffin, Paul George, and Lillard in the rookie period have all triggered, but they did not sign 30%, and the most promising Westbrook, at that time, in order to keep Harden, also voluntarily gave up, so with Morant's current performance, it is very promising to become the first person after Rose. What do you think?