The difference between Ja Morant and Trae Young

It's not just on the basketball court.

The Memphis Grizzlies welcome the Atlanta Hawks to FedExForum tonight for a showdown of two teams that have been linked for what they could possibly be. Both Memphis and Atlanta have young cores that are considered among the best in the NBA. Both have postseason success under their belt, with the Hawks getting the furthest (the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021) and the Grizzlies having the most recent playoff victory (over the Timberwolves this past spring). And both feature two of the game’s most electric players in Ja Morant of Memphis and Trae Young of Atlanta.

Because of these similarities, their careers will undoubtedly forever be linked. But beyond these shared characteristics, it’d be hard to find two more different basketball players.

For starters, Trae Young’s game offensively is much more based on the perimeter than Ja Morant’s. Only 24% of Young’s shots come at the rim, and 29% from beyond the arc. That means a massive 47% of his offensive attempts are in the midrange area, per Cleaning the Glass. Ja’s numbers are, unsurprisingly, vastly different. 42% of Morant’s shots are at the rim, only 20% are from beyond the arc, and 38% are in the midrange. Perhaps that explains why Ja’s effective field goal percentage is over 3% better than Trae’s (49.9% to 46.4%, per Cleaning the Glass). The type of shot matters, and Morant is taking the right kind of shots more consistently.

While Young is currently shooting 29.1% from three (a current career low), that almost certainly won’t last. And as his three point shooting heats up, his better-than-Morant assist numbers (higher assist percentage, lower turnover rate than Ja) the offensive comparison will be more apt. Young and Morant, while they do things differently, impact their team’s offensively in very similar ways. And Trae’s offensive contribution outweighs Ja’s in terms of offensive rating (+10.3 to +6.4 per Cleaning the Glass) thanks in large part to Young’s role in creating scoring chances for teammates.

But on the other end of the floor, Ja is better than Trae in almost every way.

Opposing offenses currently score 6.1 more points per 100 possessions when Trae Young is on the floor and boast a 0.9% better Effective Field Goal mark. By contrast, the Grizzlies defense allows a staggering 8 points less points per 100 possessions with Ja on the court (Jaren Jackson Jr.’s return has undoubtedly helped that number) and opponents shoot 4.7% worse in terms of effective field goal percentage (and 4.4% worse from three).

Morant is stronger in terms of creating “stocks” (steals and blocks), and also far exceeds Young’s productivity on the glass as a rebounder. Morant’s all-around game surpasses that of Young (who is in single digit percentiles in steal, block, and rebounding for point guards) and while Trae’s offensive production is vital to Atlanta’s success when it comes, one of the major points of growth for both Ja and Trae was to be a net neutral (or better) defender so that their offensive exploits could be better taken advantage of.

Morant, to this point this season, has done that. Young has not. And that is why Ja’s +14.4 net rating is so impressive - he is doing almost as much defensively as he is offensively. Young is still very much a defensive liability - and why despite a better offensive rating than Ja, his +6.1 defensive rating brings down his overall impact.

Morant and Young also differ in terms of leadership. While Young is reportedly missing games after getting in to spats with his head coach and taking offense to media members asking about it, no such rifts exist - especially publicly - with Morant and the Grizzlies. Any perceived tension is a distraction to what both Memphis and Atlanta are trying to build and achieve, and Young’s choices both in actions and in words of late have made coaches and teammates have to address his leadership instead of their own play on the court.

Young has been given credit throughout his credit for how he works with his teammates, and anyone can have a slip-up and make a mistake. But whether it’s because the franchise’s culture is so strong or the issues simply do not exist, Morant does not impact the chemistry of the Grizzlies negatively. You see Morant at G-League games supporting teammates, coaching from the bench when out due to injury. You hear him and read him on social media call for accolades for teammates, and follow through on those words with action.

Play on the floor ebbs and flows. Morant will sure struggle at some point defensively as his high usage rate offensively grinds along the trudge of the regular season. Trae Young won’t shoot that poorly from three forever. But what does last is the relationships you make with those you share this journey with. Mistakes and poor choices within those spaces aren’t indicative of what you’ll be in the future, but they do leave scars. And Trae Young’s perceived focus on what’s best for him off the floor and his own issues with those above him take away from the player he is on it.

Such a statement cannot be made about Ja Morant.

And that is the difference between the two.