The Los Angeles Lakers are certainly not in the market for Ja Morant no matter how cheap the price. If a rival Western Conference team trades for the disgruntled point guard, however, that would be a cause for Hollywood celebration.
The Lakers are always in the mix for star players, but the one position they don't need to be investing in is at lead guard. Between Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves the Lakers have one of the best tandems in the league, and that's before LeBron James returns from his sciatica injury and would like to handle the ball sometimes.
There is not fit for Ja Morant on the Lakers, and that is before taking into account the reality of who Ja Morant is at this point in his career. The 26-year-old point guard thinks of himself as a superstar, a no-doubt All-NBA point guard deserving of max money, max respect and max privilige. He wants the star treatment by everyone around him, including the Memphis Grizzlies organization.
The Grizzlies appear to no longer be capitulating ot his every whim, and it has Morant quite upset. He has loafed through games, been passive aggressive in press conferences and overall doesn't seem to be interested in patching things up. That could very likely lead to a breakup sometime this season.
If Morant and the Grizzlies were to part ways, what teams would be in the mix to trade for him? Some teams, like the Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Pelicans or Sacramento Kings trading for Morant wouldn't change anything in a material way for the Lakers and the West. One team, however, has a lot to gain and a lot to lose if they trade for Ja Morant: the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Would the Timberwolves trade for Ja Morant?
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The Timberwolves, of course, dismantled the Lakers in last year's playoffs to the tune of a 4-1 first round defeat. While they are off to a slow start, their size and length offer real challenges to the Lakers were the two teams to meet in the playoffs ocne again. Unless, of course, the Timberwolves have torpedoed their team by trading for Ja Morant.
The reason Minnesota is being brought up is that they have a need at point guard. Anthony Edwards is a fringe Top-10 player at shooting guard, Jaden McDaniels is an elite perimeter defender at the 3, and they have a three-man big rotation that features a mixture of defense, rebounding and floor-spacing. At point guard, however, they have an aging Mike Conley and a not-ready Rob Dillingham. Addressing that need makes sense.
What doesn't make sense is trading for Ja Morant. The Timberwolves have thrived by providing no defensive weak points for opponents to exploit; Morant would be a turnstile defensively. The Lakers, for example, would be able to get Morant switched onto Luka Doncic or Austin Reaves and then eat him up.
On offense, Morant can't scale next to another on-ball player. He doesn't cut or work off the ball, and he is a mediocre 3-point shooter. Adding him to the Minnesota roster means taking the ball out of Edwards' hands, and Edwards is a much better player than Morant at this point in their respective careers. That would be a mistake.
Add in that any assets the Timberwolves trade for Morant -- including one of Naz Reid or Julius Randle plus other matching salary and draft capital -- are assets they cannot use to actually upgrade their roster, and such a deal would be a disaster for the Timberwolves and a cause for celebration from Lakers fans.
Buying low on a distressed star is an excellent move for an NBA team to make. Buying low on Ja Morant may still be too high, and he would torpedo any team he goes to - thus eliminating them from the Lakers' path. Such a trade would be music to their ears.