Ja Morant
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The Memphis Grizzlies have Ja Morant on the trading block, and the Miami Heat are a potential partner.
The Memphis Grizzlies are working hard to move Ja Morant and give both parties a fresh start as his era leading the franchise reaches the end. Morant showed unhappiness earlier in the season with comments criticizing the coaching staff. Memphis suspending Morant showed they were growing sick of his attitude, but a few more months added more clarity for change.
NBA reporter Tim MacMahon shared more details on ESPN about how bad the situation is right now:
“Ja Morant has already had a very loud, ugly confrontation with their rookie coach. Everybody in that arena, much less the locker room, knows they want to get rid of him. And the feeling is mutual. It’s reached a point where Ja Morant’s career cannot continue in Memphis.”
Wording as strong as “Morant’s career cannot continue in Memphis” adds more certainty that a move will be made within the next month. MacMahon’s sources believe that Morant can’t return to the team due to both sides and unbiased teammates all seeing the writing on the wall. Memphis hopes to get any talent back to improve their long-term future as they give up on their current best player.
Ja Morant’s Trade Value Is Extremely Low
MacMahon added more information about the Morant trade market via both what the Grizzlies want and what the reality appears to be. Most teams interested in Morant are not looking to easily give up their best assets due to how poor he’s played this season and everyone knowing Memphis wants to move him quickly.
“Shams reported that the Grizzlies are looking for young players and multiple picks for Ja,” MacMahon said on Hoop Collective. “Good luck with that. Because the feedback that we got on Ja wasn’t any more favorable than the feedback that we got on Trae. As a matter of fact, in some cases, it was even worse.”
The belief that Morant’s value is equal or even worse to Trae Young is a bad sign for the Grizzlies. All the Atlanta Hawks received from Young is CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert with no draft picks coming back their way. Memphis having more hostility towards Morant could cause their haul to be quite lackluster.
What Ended Ja Morant’s Memphis Love
The drama surrounding Morant feels more like an accumulation of multiple negative seasons of stories progressing negatively. Morant’s suspension for waving a gun on social media a few years ago after multiple other off-court issues put a brighter spotlight on his career moving forward.
More injuries to limit his time on the court and the recent butting of heads with management has ruined the relationship. Memphis hoped that Morant would step up as a leader after his prior history, but his issues with the coaching staff showed the issues were growing larger.
Morant was not happy with having a lesser role in the offense and even questioned losing love for basketball. Memphis and Morant having such a public falling out into a divorce had the entire NBA world watching. Other teams know that Morant wants out, and the Grizzlies are in a rough trade market thanks to it.