西南赛区动态：莫兰特谈重返孟菲斯，申京背伤预计缺阵多场

Ja Morant is getting ready to square off against the Memphis team with whom he spent the first seven years of his NBA career, with the Trail Blazers set to host the Grizzlies on Thursday. Despite some public disagreements in the past, he’s not coming in with any hard feelings toward his former team, Jason Quick writes for The Athletic. Asked about the reunion, Morant said that he’s “not a big grudge guy.”

“Nothing harsh from me for Memphis. At all,” Morant said. “My Memphis time was great, man. That’s tough to, you know, just take out of the picture after a couple months (in Portland),” Morant continued. “I don’t know if nothing can top, you know, my time in Memphis … unless I win a chip (title). And that’s the goal this year.”

Morant also took responsibility for some of the decisions he made while with the Grizzlies, though he added that it “wasn’t all me.”

Grizzlies head coach Tuomas Iisalo spoke about Morant’s return as well in an attempt to clear the air about his relationship with the talented point guard.

“People rely on second-, third-hand information on this and they get blown out of proportion,” Iisalo said, per Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com (Twitter video link). “I always said we had a great working relationship. We saw a lot of things in a very similar fashion, and just like in any situation, it doesn’t always go like you maybe intended to. I’m just happy both teams and both parties are doing really well right now.”

The Blazers will enter Thursday’s game with a record of 3-0 and Morant averaging 16.3 points and 6.3 assists per game on .588/.444/.833 shooting splits.

We have more from around the Southwest Division:

• Herbert Jones has seen limited minutes during the Pelicans’ first week of the season, but although he’s averaging just 17.0 minutes per game heading into Wednesday’s games, by far the lowest of his career, New Orleans has not indicated any desire or willingness to trade him, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line (via Twitter). The team is rumored to have long held an extremely high bar for what they would require in any trade for Jones, and his dip in playing time seems to not have diminished that demand.
• Rockets center Alperen Sengun spoke on Wednesday about the back ailment that is expected to cost him some time. “I got hurt, but I don’t think about it in the game,” Sengun said, per The Houston Chronicle’s Varun Shankar (Twitter link), before clarifying: “Not like I’m saying I got hurt, but you know, feeling little pain in the game. But I don’t think about it.” Head coach Ime Udoka indicated that Sengun could miss multiple games due to the tightness in his back.
• Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg has gotten off to an impressive start in his second NBA season, averaging 25.0 points, 6.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.7 steals over three games heading into Wednesday’s matchup against the Thunder. The reigning Rookie of the Year is emerging as a prime candidate for Team USA in the 2028 Olympics, as Grant Afseth writes for Dallas Sports Journal. “Obviously, for me, I’ve played for the country before when I was younger, playing for under-17 teams, stuff like that. So for me, it’s obviously a pleasure to be able to play for my country,” Flagg said. “Any chance I get it, I have no idea what it’s going to look like. It’s a good way down the road. So obviously, if I was ever asked to be able to play for my country, that’s something I would love to do. It would be amazing.”