Is the Ja Morant coming to an end in Memphis? It certainly feels that way. Heading into training camp, it felt like a make-or-break season for the Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. core, but don't take my word for it, here is how general manager Zach Kleiman put it at media day: "I think it is fair to say as we continue to build this team, to be able to achieve a high-end outcome, we need Ja to be a consistent All-NBA-caliber player."
He has not been. With that, the Grizzlies are 3-4 to start the season with a bottom-10 offense and defense. Then came the drama this weekend: A poor effort game by Morant (just watch the video), who afterward threw the coaches under the bus, which led to him being suspended for one game for “conduct detrimental to the team.”
Other teams are monitoring the situation — and have been for a while — potentially looking to scoop up Morant in a steal of a trade, something Marc Stein wrote about in his Stein Line newsletter.
The inevitable talk of rival teams now monitoring the situation is a no-duh way to describe the sudden vibe in Memphis — since rival teams are always poised to pounce on proven All-Stars who might (or might not) be unhappy in their current surroundings — but the truth is that Morant's future has been must-monitor going back to the June draft and the buildup to it. That is when rumbles started to circulate in earnest that the contract extension Morant was eligible for this past offseason would not be offered … and that this team might no longer revolve around him.
Morant is on a reasonable contract for his potential level of production. He is making $39.5 million this season, and has two years, $87.1 million remaining on his contract after this season.
Don't mistake that for there being a strong trade market for Morant — teams are wary. First, Morant has battled injuries in the two seasons preceding this one and simply does not appear as explosive as he once was. What's more, last season, he was frustrated with coach Taylor Jenkins and his decision to move the offense away from pick-and-rolls. As a result, the Grizzlies fired Jenkins at the end of the season and replaced him with Tuomas Iisalo, with whom Morant is now not happy. On ESPN’s Hoop Collective Podcast on Monday, Tim Bontemps suggested the Grizzlies trade Morant sooner rather than later, but Tim MacMahon slowed that roll.
"You say trade him, here's the problem… I don't think there's much — you guys talk to people, I talk to people — do you find a lot of people that believe there's gonna be some robust market if they do shop Ja Morant?"
DeMarcus Cousins suggested on X that two teams in need of point guard help now — Houston and Minnesota — should trade for Morant. But does he really fit in either spot? Houston misses the glue guy, floor general that was Fred VanVleet — that is not Morant, who is a score-first guy and takes the ball out of the hands of Kevin Durant and Amen Thompson. The same is true in Minnesota, where Morant, next to Anthony Edwards, seems like mixing oil and water.
There are teams that would jump at the opportunity to acquire Morant, but the initial offers are more likely to be lowball. Morant can still put up counting stats, 20.8 points and 6.7 assists a game this season, but he has not looked like an All-NBA player and certainly would not get the kind of trade return Memphis would seek. At least right now. Which means the status quo will continue in Memphis for a while.
But this is a situation to monitor.
