Grizzlies’ Ja Morant Responds to Dillon Brooks’s Free-Agency Departure

Brooks is headed to Houston on a sign-and-trade deal worth up to $90 million.

The last time Dillon Brooks played in a game for the Grizzlies was during a 40-point blowout loss in Game 6 of the first round of the playoffs against the Lakers. It was a game that capped a nightmarish series for the former second-round pick who blossomed into a key contributor for the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed.

Now, Brooks is headed to the Rockets in a sign-and-trade with Houston that netted Brooks a four-year, $86 million contract worth up to $90 million, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. And his star former teammate, Ja Morant, had a brief yet seemingly heartfelt response when the Grizzlies officially announced the deal on Twitter.

🥺💙♾️ https://t.co/o8gN69auwu

— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) July 9, 2023

Morant and Brooks had spent the past four seasons as teammates, helping guide the team to the playoffs in each of the past three years. Prior to his disastrous series against the Lakers—in which he antagonized LeBron James with words and on-court actions and was ejected from Game 3 after appearing to punch James in the groin—Brooks was a major success story with Memphis, going from overlooked second-round draft pick to a player who averaged 16.2 points per game over the past two seasons.

Morant and Brooks appeared to have a good relationship, with Morant sharing a positive message on his Instagram story back in May when reports emerged that the Grizzlies did not plan on bringing Brooks back to the team. With Brooks’s move to Houston now official, the pair will have to wait until the first Rockets-Grizzlies game for an on-court reunion.