Memphis Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant is in the midst of without a doubt the best season of his young career. So much so, that the 22-year-old has forced himself to the MVP conversation. Moreover, Morant is also one of the frontrunners to land this season's Most Improved Player of the Year award. That's just how good he has been throughout the course of the campaign.

Despite his tremendous performance this season, however, there are still a good number of folks out there who aren't buying in on Ja Morant. One particular Eastern Conference executive, for instance, is not ready to jump on the hype train just yet. In his mind, the unnamed exec firmly believes that Morant isn't as good as most of us would assume:

“It's weird to say this, but I don't think [Morant] is quite as good as his public perception,” an East executive said, via Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “If you put Shai on that Memphis team, he could potentially be doing a lot of the same things.”

That's harsh. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is no scrub but at this point, he does not appear to be on Ja Morant's level. I guess what this anonymous executive is trying to point out is that the main reason behind Morant's surge is the circumstance he is in right now. The theory appears to be that it's the Grizzlies squad, in one way or another, who are making Morant better, and that a guy like SGA can pretty much replicate Morant's heroics in Memphis if they swapped places.

On the contrary, other executives were quick to heap praise on Morant. This was a survey that was put out by ESPN wherein they asked 15 league executives and scouts about the top point guards in the league today. While there was some criticism on Morant, others were more than willing to sing his praises:

“Ja has shown the ability to take a team to the next level,” a Western Conference scout said. “He's shown great leadership, plus his jump, as far as development, has been pretty remarkable.”

Right now, Ja Morant is putting up some dizzying numbers. He's averaging a career-best 27.6 points on 49.4 percent shooting, 5.8 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 1.2 steals, while also connecting on 1.6 triples per game on a 34.3-percent clip. More importantly, the Grizzlies are looking at a Top 4 finish in a ruthless Western Conference as this team has established itself as a legitimate threat in the conference. There's no denying that this squad would not be where they are right now without Ja Morant.