Served by Marcus Smart, Ja Morant went on his left hand to gain speed, baseline, the Mavs defense. With the attention of three Texan players on him, the Grizzlies leader simply sent the ball into the air, near the circle.
At the reception, the immense Zach Edeycoming from the high post to finish the action with both hands. A first “alley-oop” between the two men, traveling to Dallas, giving a brief overview of what their relationship in the game could generate.
“ Oh, it's going to be deadly! », enthuses the man behind this sequence, Marcus Smart, interviewed by Sports Keeda. For the former Celtics executive, the arrival of the former Purdue pivot, in the tradition of Jonas Valanciunas and Steven Adams before him, will change the situation.
“ This will open up even more possibilities for us, especially for Ja. We all know what Ja can do with a little space, so imagine what he can do with a lot of space cleared by a big like Zach », imagines Marcus Smart, whose analysis also works the other way.
A leading axis – functional pivot
A brief glance at Ja Morant's career statistics allows us to see that the Grizzlies' pivots are among the leader's preferred targets. But also that the inside players are the main providers of the ball (without necessarily being decisive passes) for the leader, in the two-way relationship at the head of the racket.
It is therefore hard to imagine Taylor Jenkins depriving himself of this new connection on the leader – pivot axis, which should still make opposing defenses dizzy. And Marcus Smart does not forget to mention the other sector in which Zach Edey is expected, in defense.
“ It's going to be huge for us. He allows us to do a lot of different things on defense. It allows us, Jaren (Jackson) and it is up to me to give the best of ourselves. As former top defenders of the year, it's great to have that rim protection behind us. His 2.24 meters clearly helps us. He moves very well, his IQ is very high and he keeps improving », Lists Marcus Smart.
