Ja Morant, More Not Eligible for Supermax Contracts After Missing All-NBA Teams

Ja Morant's bank account will be about $40 million lighter than it could've been after the Memphis Grizzlies star missed out on making an All-NBA team for the 2022-23 season.

ESPN's Bobby Marks noted the stakes for Morant before the teams were announced Wednesday. Morant's five-year, $194.3 million extension could've become a supermax deal.

The two-time All-Star reacted to the snub:

Per Marks, the Toronto Raptors' Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet and Denver Nuggets' Jamal Murray were eligible for supermax deals as well. As expected, though, none of the three was an All-NBA honoree.

Siakam was one of the biggest forward omissions. He averaged 24.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game and led the league in minutes per game (37.4) for the second straight year. The Raptors' 41-41 record probably didn't help his or VanVleet's case, though.

VanVleet and Murray also had to contend with many excellent guards.

Morant's missing out is a prime example of that. He averaged 26.2 points, 8.1 assists and 5.9 rebounds per game and helped Memphis post the second-best record in the Western Conference (51-31). Still, that wasn't enough to earn him one of the six guard slots.

Granted, Morant's eight-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the league was likely a tipping point for some voters. The dynamic playmaker missed nine games after he shared a video on social media in which he flashed a handgun in a Denver-area nightclub.

Once the new collective bargaining agreement goes into effect, there's bound to be more stars who miss out on millions of dollars in salary because of All-NBA snubs. The CBA carries minimum requirements for games and minutes played in order for players to be eligible for individual awards and All-NBA teams.

Some heavy hitters would've been stricken from the list of honorees this season under those rules.

In future years, fans will know well in advance if a top performer doesn't meet the necessary criteria. Still, it will be jarring to see someone like Stephen Curry or Giannis Antetokounmpo excluded because they logged only 64 games.