Perceiving a Morant trade as a salary dump is a significant way for Memphis to finally cut their ties with the embattled franchise guard.
With less than two weeks left in the NBA calendar before this season's Feb. 5 trade deadline, it is generally perceived that the Memphis Grizzlies are facing a massive obstacle in delivering a desirable Ja Morant trade.
Ja Morant
Ja Morant
Ja Morant
MIN: 28.43
PTS: 19.45 (53.99%)
REB: 3.25
AS: 8.05
ST: 1
BL: 0.3
TO: 3.55
GM: 20
But if they would like to really get a deal done as soon as possible, Kelly Iko of Yahoo! Sports argued that the Grizzlies have to lower their expectations and mainly send Morant away by shedding his salary.
"It’s highly unlikely general manager Zach Kleiman will fetch a haul for Morant similar to what he got for Desmond Bane. It’s hard to reach Morant’s $39.4 million salary without cobbling a slew of rookie-scale contracts or older players on negative money," Iko noted.
"Now, if Memphis is amenable to a salary dump, I could see a path to him being moved in the next 10 days."
Beyond his massive contract, Morant's long history of injury issues and off-court conducts are being viewed as negative across the league.
Morant, who is set to be out for three weeks due to a new elbow injury, only played a total of 79 regular season games since the 2023-24 campaign.
Earlier this season, he was suspended one game after clashing with head coach Tuomas Iisalo, which adds up to his scandalous acts from the past like brandishing hand guns from multiple instances.
But it was reported previously that while they are still open to trading Morant, the Grizzlies are apparently not looking to obtain minimal returns similar to what the Atlanta Hawks just obtained for Trae Young from the Washington Wizards.
It's now up to the Grizzlies on how they can approach and potentially adjust to the market for Morant.
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