{"id":712320,"date":"2026-04-17T09:30:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T09:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/712320\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T09:30:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T09:30:33","slug":"ja-morant-i-like-what-we-are-building-for-nba-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/712320\/","title":{"rendered":"Ja Morant: \u201cI like what we are building\u201d for NBA Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

2026-04-17T04:27:02+00:00
\n 2026-04-17T04:27:02+00:00
\n 2026-04-17T04:27:02+00:00.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Giannis Askounis<\/p>\n

17\/Apr\/26 04:27<\/p>\n

Eurohoops.net<\/p>\n


\n
\n <\/a><\/p>\n


\n Giannis Askounis <\/a><\/p>\n

\"victor-wembanyama-ja-morant\"Joe Murphy\/NBAE \/ Getty Images \/ Ideal Image<\/p>\n

The list of prospective investors for NBA Europe includes 26-year-old Ja Morant<\/p>\n

By Johnny Askounis\/ info@eurohoops.net<\/a><\/p>\n

Besides persistent trade rumors, Ja Morant is making significant waves in the business world by positioning himself as a foundational player in the NBA\u2019s overseas expansion<\/a>. Through his investment firm, Catch12, the 26-year-old Memphis Grizzlies<\/a> point guard has joined a consortium backing Metropolitans 92, a former French team of Victor Wembanyama, in their bid for a permanent spot in the upcoming NBA Europe league.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited about how this first season with the Metros is going,\u201d Morant told ClutchPoints<\/a>. \u201cThey represent the culture, just like we do. I like what we are building, and hopefully we get to take it into NBA Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

His involvement aligns with the league\u2019s most critical development phase. With the NBA and FIBA in the process of reviewing non-binding bids, the project, slated for an October 2027 launch, has attracted over 120 prospective investors and bids exceeding $1 billion, including Metropolitans 92. The proposed 16-team format aims to establish permanent franchises in 12 hub cities, including the French capital, while leaving four spots open for merit-based qualification from the Basketball Champions League and domestic European leagues.<\/p>\n

Morant\u2019s playing future in the NBA is far more uncertain. Following a disappointing 2025-26 Regular Season marred by a season-ending injury, the Grizzlies<\/a> are widely expected to trade their star guard this offseason as they pivot toward a full rebuild. While the Sacramento Kings<\/a> and Miami Heat<\/a> remain heavily linked to the guard, negotiations have been complicated by Morant\u2019s $197 million contract and recent off-court challenges.<\/p>\n

Read the latest News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2026-04-17T04:27:02+00:00 2026-04-17T04:27:02+00:00 2026-04-17T04:27:02+00:00. Giannis Askounis 17\/Apr\/26 04:27 Eurohoops.net Giannis Askounis Joe Murphy\/NBAE \/ Getty Images \/ Ideal Image…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712321,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3795],"tags":[7,294,293,177,4070,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-712320","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-memphis-grizzlies","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-grizzlies","10":"tag-memphis","11":"tag-memphis-grizzlies","12":"tag-memphisgrizzlies","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116419353581962001","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}