The Memphis Grizzlies want substantially more in a Ja Morant trade than the Atlanta Hawks received when they moved Trae Young. Please adjust your hypothetical packages accordingly.
During a recent spot on SiriusXM’s Dunks and Deals, NBA Insider Marc Stein said that the Grizzlies want a young player and first-round pick as part of any Morant deal. This is at once noticeably more than the relative salary-fodder Atlanta got for Young (CJ McCollum, and Corey Kispert), and also a sign of how far Memphis’ franchise cornerstone’s value has fallen.
Nobody needs to be reminded of how much Morant has struggled to remain available, or to live up to his reputation when he is on the floor. He’s nevertheless still a one-time All-NBA player who has yet to turn 27. This asking price seems modest, perhaps beyond reasonable, in the grand scheme of things.
It remains to be seen whether teams monitoring the Morant situation feel the same way.
The Grizzlies could struggle to get even a modest return for Ja Morant
Despite their pretty accessible asking price, the Grizzlies aren’t succeeding in their attempt to drum up a market for Morant’s services, according to Stein.
“It’s hard to pinpoint clear-cut suitors,” he explained on SiriusXM (h/t Bryan Fonseca of the New York Post). “Miami, we know, is interested. There has been some dialogue between the teams. How far it’s actually gone, I imagine the Heat would just try to steal him for expiring. I don’t know how far the Heat would be willing to go as far as draft capital and young players to put into an offer.”
Yeeesh.
To be fair, the Heat are a special case study. Morant has apparently name-checked them as a preferred landing spot, but the fit is far from intuitive. Miami already has a bunch of guards in Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, and Davion Mitchell. And even if you can guarantee the Heat are getting a better version of Morant, they still employ Noah LaRoche—the assistant coach largely responsible for implementing the offense in Memphis last year that Morant didn’t like.
Unless Miami is planning to overhaul its ball-screen-light system, approaching the Morant situation with measures of restraint, if not outright indifference, makes a bunch of sense. This still doesn’t explain the lack of other possible suitors creeping out of the woodwork. Worse, inciting more of a market isn’t going to get any easier.
Ja Morant’s trade value isn’t going to improve
Never mind that Morant has missed more than 55 percent of the Grizzlies’ regular-season games over the past three seasons. Forget about the dismal three-point shooting. Ignore the declining rim frequency. Gloss over the defensive challenges.
All of this contributes to Morant’s submarining value, but he can’t do anything to help his case when he is, yet again, not playing.
Everyone knows by now that the Grizzlies and Morant are speeding toward divorce. That inherently costs Memphis leverage. You can’t command even a small ransom for a player who no longer qualifies as an active All-Star candidate when you’re so clearly, thoroughly, hopelessly out of options.
Giving Morant an opportunity to rehabilitate his standing around the league is the Grizzlies’ most effective path to meeting their asking price. It’s also a gambit teeming with risk. Morant could continue to struggle. He might even do more harm to his value.
At the end of it all, Memphis should still be able to get more for Morant than Atlanta received for Young. He is cheaper, and has an extra year on his deal. But “more” in this case is a low bar.
Failing a rousing return to play from Ja, beginning with Sunday’s tilt against Orlando in London, the idea that the Grizzlies will get a first-rounder and an interesting young player feels like a reach.