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Memphis Grizzlies head coach Tuomas Iisalo had a blunt response to the report by Shams Charania on Ja Morant trade rumors amid his injury.
Star point guard Ja Morant is still on the Memphis Grizzlies roster, but at least one team is hoping to acquire him ahead of the trade deadline. Memphis initially placed Morant on the trade block over a month ago after another poor start to the season harmed his reputation. Morant clashing with the coaching staff earlier in the year and dealing with more injury woes made the Grizzlies look at their future and wonder if it was time to blow things up.
Former Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson was traded today to confirm change is here. Morant’s name has not been mentioned in many rumors lately, but Sam Amick claims one team still holds interest:
“The Sacramento Kings are consistently mentioned as one of the few teams — if not the only one — that might decide to get into the Morant business before the Thursday deadline. As of today, I can relay, per team sources, that they have still not completely closed the door on that idea.”
Amick raised a couple of important notes about Morant and a potential trade. The Sacramento Kings not only still have interest, but they are the only team the reporter was able to confirm still wants Morant.
Argument For Memphis Trading Ja Morant
Today’s big move of dealing Jackson to the Utah Jazz felt like a confirmation from the Grizzlies that they don’t expect to contend or win a lot of games any time soon. Memphis could move Morant and completely reset the vision of the franchise moving forward.
Young players Cedric Coward and Zach Edey are considered the most important pieces for the future now. Both are on the cheaper rookie scale deals and have shown a lot of potential in a short time so far for the Grizzlies. A young team going all in on their youth is often the smartest mode of rebuilding.
Memphis would have to settle for a lackluster Kings trade package since this move would be more about starting from scratch to build a new core. Morant seems like a worse fit now after losing Jackson and could be traded for any package that starts the Grizzlies’ tanking efforts for a high draft pick.
Argument For Memphis Keeping Ja Morant
Sacramento is expected to include veterans as the main names coming back to Memphis in a hypothetical trade. The Grizzlies want to get younger and would be wasting their time trying to build around DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine.
Amick’s comment about no other teams being vocal with offers for Morant is a sign of his trade value right now. Many believe that Memphis would be better off trying to boost Morant’s trade value by keeping him for the rest of the season and trading him in the offseason.
More teams could be interested in him since the offseason leads to more franchises looking to improve their chances of success. A contender could view Morant as the necessary risk to put them over the top. However, Sacramento may be the next home of Morant is the Grizzlies don’t want to wait too long for a Morant trade.