Ja Morant #12 of the Memphis Grizzlies could be a Milwaukee Bucks trade target.
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Ja Morant #12 of the Memphis Grizzlies could be a Milwaukee Bucks trade target.
If you get the sense that, in the past few years–maybe even going all the way back to their NBA championship in 2021–the Milwaukee Bucks have mostly been flailing in their attempts to build and maintain a roster around star big man Giannis Antetokounmpo, you’re not wrong. It probably would be prudent for the team to seek an Antetokounmpo trade, but they’re stubbornly holding onto their star, trying to find him capable teammates to remain among the NBA’s contenders.
And so we’ve had Damian Lillard and Kyle Kuzma and Myles Turner. Maybe next up is Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant.
Last week, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Grizzlies are making it known they’re welcoming offers on Morant, which has surely caught the attention of the Bucks. Morant is a player whose career has gone sideways, an undersize high-volume shooter in an era in which undersize high-volume shooters are out of fashion.
Milwaukee Bucks Could Buy Low on Ja Morant Trade
Still, there is buzz around a Morant-Milwaukee deal. The Bucks are building a roster while in perpetual panic mode, and trading for Morant is the kind of panic move that would fit their recent approach.
The Bucks can get hold of Morant easily enough, and that’s a requirement for any transaction this team makes. There cupboard of assets is pretty well bare. In the days since Hawks star Trae Young (a fellow undersize volume scoring guard) was traded from Atlanta to the Wizards for role players CJ McCollum and Cory Kispert, the Grizzlies might be willing to OK any package that includes a first-round pick, no matter how unappetizing that pick might be.
The Bucks’ pick situation, of course, is terrible–they can’t deal a pick until 2031. But a 2031 pick in a package built around Kuzma might be enough to get the job done.
1st Round Pick for Ja Morant?
As veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein noted on the “All NBA” podcast, if a first-round pick enters the conversation, Morant likely will be gone.
“It’s interesting that the Grizzlies made it so well known, so generally known that they were willing to take calls on him because they had generally been so resistant to that,” Stein said. But I think the reality, when you take a step back … we’ve been reporting ab out Trae Young and LaMelo Ball and Ja Morant and the possibility of these guys being traded since before Thanksgiving. Now, can the Grizzlies expect to do better than the Hawks did?
“The early word is that the Grizzlies are hoping for at least one first, if they trade Ja Morant. Is there a team out there that is going to furnish a first after Trae Young essentially went for an expiring and a role player? We’ll see.”
Milwaukee Bucks Making Bad Business Choices
Ah, but trading for Morant is not necessarily good business. The Bucks tried putting Antetokounmpo with a high scoring, undersize guard in Lillard, and that experiment went nowhere. The Bucks were at their best with tough, defensive-minded point man Jrue Holiday in their backcourt.
There’s plenty of question as to how much Morant would actually play for his next team, if the Grizzlies succeed in finding a trade partner. The most games Morant has played in a season was 67, and that was when he was a 20-year-old rookie. When he won the league’s Most Improved Player award in 2021-22, he averaged 27.4 points but played only 57 games.
His production has nosedived because of chronic injuries and suspensions. He is currently out with a calf injury and has played just 77 games in the last three seasons combined. Morant is on the books for $39 million this season, with $42 million in 2026-27 and $45 million the following year, so this would be another case of the Bucks taking on bad money in hopes of keeping Antetokounmpo competitive.
It’s not worked out well so far, of course.