It didn’t take long for JaVale McGee to learn how small the margin of error is when guarding Ja Morant.
In the opening minute of the Mavericks’ matchup with the Grizzlies early in the season, McGee found himself in the precarious position of defending Morant with a full head of steam. He dropped back in the pick-and-roll knowing Morant is always looking to sneak his way into the paint but quickly learned that’s only part of the battle.
Morant hit McGee with an in-and-out dribble when he got to the elbow. While it didn’t exactly burn McGee, it created just the separation Morant needed to glide to the basket and kiss a left-handed layup off the glass.
A minute later, the same pick-and-roll but with a twist.
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The setup was identical. Steven Adams set the lumbering screen for Morant on the same side. Dorian Finney-Smith went over the screen while McGree dropped back. Morant even set McGee up with the same in-and-out at the elbow.
The difference? Instead of gliding to the basket like so:
Morant did this sorcery:
The body control and touch to turn a drive into a wrong-footed floater out of a eurostep … goodness.
That sequence tells you everything you need to know about how a slight guard with an inconsistent jump shot has turned into one of the most dominant scorers in the NBA. Every team knows Morant’s weaknesses, and yet it didn’t stop him from leading the league in paint scoring last season.
He’s not at the very top of the league to start this season, but he’s still in the mix with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Zion Williamson, four players who tower over him physically.
MORE: How Morant dominates the paint like a 7-footer
The key to Morant’s success in the paint is twofold. Yes, he’s an athletic marvel who can outjump and finish around just about anyone, but he’s spent the last four years developing a floater Tony Parker would approve of.
Morant was limited to 57 games in the 2021-22 season, but only five players made more shots than him from the non-restricted area part of the paint, more commonly known as floater range. He connected on them at an above-average rate for his position, which is an impressive feat considering the sky-high volume.
To be more specific, Morant made an average of 3.0 floaters per game the season before that. That ranked him third in the NBA behind only Trae Young (4.0) and Collin Sexton (3.1).
No matter how you spin it, Morant’s floater is top-tier.
“It’s something that I’ve been working on,” Morant said of his floater on Pardon My Take. “Something that allows me to not absorb a lot of contact — you know, just stopping right before the defender and just shooting the floater. I feel like I shoot and make floaters at a high level, so I should be in that category.
“Analytics and numbers say those shots aren’t efficient, but as you can see, it’s a lot of people in this league who use floaters or pull-up 2s and make them at a high level.”
| Season | Restricted Area | In The Paint (Non-RA) |
| 2019-20 | 247-426 (58.0%) | 111-257 (43.2%) |
| 2020-21 | 220-364 (60.4%) | 113-296 (38.2%) |
| 2021-22 | 303-453 (66.9%) | 171-399 (42.9%) |
| 2022-23 | 31-45 (68.9%) | 16-41 (39.0%) |
The threat of the floater allows Morant to do some truly stupendous things with the ball in his hands. Give him space when he’s going downhill, and he’ll stop on a dime for a silky smooth floater. Press up on him, and he’ll slither his way to the rim for a layup or dunk.
Pair that with his jaw-dropping athleticism and lightning-quick speed, and the defense often has no idea what’s coming next because he can hop from one to the other in the blink of an eye.
Take the following possession as an example. Most players would pull up around the elbow if given this sort of space:
But Morant? He hits Bruno Fernando with the same in-and-out crossover McGee might have nightmares over, which leads to a — you guessed it — layup.
Jabari Smith Jr. got a close look at that play in the first quarter. He was probably expecting the same from Morant when he found himself defending him in the pick-and-roll later on.
Smith meets Morant higher than Fernando did but quickly retreats to the paint:
Rather than going to the basket, this time Morant hits the brakes and rises for a floater.
The ball was out of Morant’s hands so quickly that Smith didn’t even have a chance to leave his feet. Nasty stuff.
The scary thing about Morant is the jump shot is coming along. Small sample size, but he’s already made five midrange jumpers this season after making 18 all of last season. More importantly, he’s gone from connecting on his pull-up 3s at a 33.8 percent clip to 52.9 percent.
That’s obviously not sustainable for an entire season — not even Stephen Curry makes half of his off-the-dribble 3-point attempts — but Morant’s jump shot does look smoother.
Combine Morant’s paint dominance with an improved jump shot, and there really won’t be an answer for him.
Last year? Most Improved Player.
This year? Most Valuable Player. Don’t count it out.
