The Atlanta Hawks just traded their star, in-his-prime point guard to Washington for an unimpressive return — no draft picks, no young players, mostly an expiring contract — because it was the only viable option. There was no meaningful trade market for Trae Young.

Now enter Ja Morant into the conversation.

The Memphis Grizzlies are, for the first time, "entertaining offers to potentially move two-time All-Star," reports Shams Charania of ESPN. "Multiple teams are pursuing Morant in trade talks and rival executives believe the Grizzlies would prioritize draft picks and young players in return," is the spin from Charania.

That kind of trade will be difficult to find. While there are front offices that like the potential of a Morant comeback story, not many teams are looking for a point guard, let alone a ball-dominant one who is a minus defender and on a max contract. Much as it was with Young, some teams will expect Memphis to add draft picks as sweeteners to the deal to get them to take on Monrant and his contract.

Morant, 26, will miss his fourth straight game Friday night due to a calf contusion, and he has missed 19 games already this season due to injuries and a one-game suspension for an incident with coach Tuomas Iisalo. A combination of injuries and suspensions — Morant comes with a lot of baggage — have kept him from playing in more than 65 games in any of the last seven seasons.

More concerning, when he has played this season, he has not looked as explosive as he once did when he was an All-Star and one of the most dynamic players in the league, scouts have told NBC Sports. Any flashes of that old Morant have been just that, flashes (although his injuries could have something to do with that). This season, he has averaged 19 points a game on 40.1% shooting (20.8% from 3-point range) and is dishing out 7.6 assists a night. He is a drive-and-dish player, not one who has ever spaced the floor with his shooting. And the fact that he is a target on defense is a serious issue in the modern NBA.

The biggest concern for teams may be the money. Morant is making $39.5 million this season, the third year of a five-year, $197 million max contract. He is guaranteed $87.1 million in the two seasons after this one. In the tax apron era, teams know they cannot miss on max contracts, and Morant is not everyone's flavor of point guard — ball-dominant, someone others have to adjust to play around. Being a player who has to have the ball in his hands can work in today's NBA if a player is Luka Dončić- or Jalen Brunson-level, but is Morant that player anymore?

How much would a team be willing to give up in a trade to find out? Enough to get a deal done at the deadline? There are teams willing to take a chance on Morant's potential — a fresh start, get him healthy, and bet he can find his form again — but this is more about teams understanding the risk they are taking on, being willing to take a bit of a flier, not trading for a current star player. The return on that kind of trade may be less than the Grizzlies envision, much as it was with the Hawks when they dealt Young.

Morant joins Anthony Davis as the biggest names available at the trade deadline. Whether either of them finds a new home before Feb. 5 is up for debate, but they will generate a lot of headlines between now and then.

It's official: Trae Young is a Washington Wizard.

The trade reported a couple of days ago — with Young going to Washington and CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert headed to Atlanta — became official on Friday morning. That is when Young released this statement on X.

The key parts of that discuss his acceptance of change for the man who had been the face of the Atlanta Hawks for more than seven years, since the team traded for him on draft night in 2018.

"The last few years weren't how I wanted them to be, expectations that were created for ourselves, reaching heights that Atlanta has never reached before...However, between the injuries, the setbacks, and situations that didn't make sense, we never truly got to see our full potential. The city that raised me and taught me so much will always be a chapter in this story. However, the pain of staying the same eventually outweighed the uncertainty of change."

Young also showed off his new jersey in the Wizards locker room.

Young goes to Washington in what is essentially a trial run, but how much we see of Young the remainder of this season is in doubt. Washington brought Young in to be a floor raiser with their young core, but this is also a team that owes its first-round pick to the Knicks, top-eight protected. Currently, the Wizards have the fourth-worst winning percentage in the league, and if the NBA Draft Lottery were today, they would retain their pick regardless of how the ping-pong balls bounce. But if Young plays a lot this season and lifts the Wizards up the standings, that dynamic changes. Which is why most people around the league expect it will be next season before we see a lot of Young on the court in a Wizards uniform and the real test of his ability to be a leader and mentor to this team will begin.

LeBron James. Kevin Durant.

Those two legends and future Hall of Famers are the only two players to reach 10,000 points in the NBA younger than Anthony Edwards. The Timberwolves star reached that milestone Thursday night with a fourth-quarter step-back jumper along the baseline.

"To be honest, it's cool, but I know I've got a lot more to go, so it's really nothing, for real," Edwards said postgame, via the Associated Press. "I'm kind of sick that I got in front of Kobe. I wished I would've waited like 100 days or something, but yeah, it's all good."

Edwards, the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, reached the milestone in 412 games. Only two other Timberwolves — Kevin Garnett and Karl-Anthony Towns — have reached this milestone with the team.

Edwards hit 10,000 on a night he scored 25 points with nine assists and seven rebounds as the Timberwolves picked up an impressive 131-122 win over the Cavaliers. The Timberwolves have won four in a row and 8-of-11.