Less than two months after serving an eight-game suspension for carrying a gun while intoxicated on a livestreamed video from a Denver nightclub, Morant received a suspension for posing with a gun in a livestreamed video on May 13. Morant will be “required to meet certain conditions before he returns to play and will be ineligible to participate in any public league or team activities,” according to the NBA news release that announced his suspension on June 16.

Entering the first year of a five-year contract with a maximum value of $197 million, Morant, an All-Star the previous two seasons, did not take part in Monday’s media day.

“He’s been putting in great work and I think taking a lot of steps in the right direction and a healthy positive direction,” Kleiman said on Monday. “I would just leave it at that.”

Refusing to comment on whether the Grizzlies would go above and above to try to help Morant avoid yet another incident at a nightclub, Kleiman stated he plans to keep those conversations “internal.”

“I would again just say I think he’s taken meaningful, positive, healthy steps in the right direction,” Kleiman stated. “We’re going to continue to give him the structure to be able to follow through on that.”

Taylor Jenkins, the coach of Memphis, stated that because the Grizzlies must get ready to start the season without him, Morant would not practice with the starting lineup during training camp.

“We’ve got a separate plan designed for him outside just the team training where we’re going to push him,” Jenkins explained. “He’s excited about it and how we can challenge him even more, when we talk about being the best version of Ja moving forward.”

The NBA 2023–2024 season has officially here! Our NBA Insiders are already planning for the postseason as fans throughout the league get ready for two elite matchups.

Tuesday’s schedule begins with a repeat of the Western Conference finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets, the reigning champions. Are further postseason meetings between the Lakers and Nuggets inevitable? Will the redesigned Phoenix Suns advance to the Finals when they play the redesigned Golden State Warriors in the opening round?

With Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo joining the Milwaukee Bucks, the battle in the Eastern Conference is expected to intensify. Can the Boston Celtics, who assembled their own superteam this offseason with the addition of Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, avenge their postseason defeat to the Miami Heat from the previous year? Could a young club like the Knicks make a surprise entry?

Above all, which team is ready to win it all? Is finals MVP Nikola Jokic going to make another run? Can Chris Paul win his first championship with Stephen Curry’s aid and win his fifth?

Who knows who might make the first move and ask her out? In light of the controversy involving James Harden and the Philadelphia 76ers, is it possible that reigning MVP Joel Embiid would look elsewhere for his first championship? Could two-time All-Star Trae Young try to get on a competing team after spending five seasons with the Atlanta Hawks?

We’re revealing our experts’ predictions for the conference finals, NBA Finals, and possible superstar movement ahead of Tuesday night’s tip-off.