Clippers-Ja Morant Trade Rumors Make Little Sense

The Los Angeles Clippers have no business being interested in Ja Morant.

Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

The trade season is officially upon us. The Atlanta Hawks and the Washington Wizards kickstarted the transaction period with the Trae Young deal earlier in the week. Another undersized point guard who has worn out his welcome with the franchise that drafted him has hit the market since then. It was reported on Friday that the Memphis Grizzlies are now listening to offers on Ja Morant ahead of the February 5 trade deadline.

As has been the case for every high-profile trade candidate, the Los Angeles Clippers are being thrown out as a potential landing spot for Morant. NBA insider Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints identified the Clippers as a "team worth keeping an eye on" who "would possibly consider trading for Morant".

Clippers Can't Make a Ja Morant Mistake at the Trade Deadline

Why the Clippers are constantly mentioned in these trade rumors is easy to understand. They are 13-23 and are desperate to make a move to turn their season. They also have enough matching salary to send back in a trade for a player on a max contract. Yet, the idea that the Clippers would be interested in Morant at all makes little to no sense.

The Clippers have plenty of needs, but an inefficient, offense-first point guard with serious availability concerns is not one. LA would love to add more shooting, defense, and physicality. Morant helps on none of those fronts.

Plus, the fit of Morant around James Harden and Kawhi Leonard is very poor. The 26-year-old is a bad three-point shooter, hitting 20.8% of his attempts from downtown this season after making 30.9% of his threes last season. He doesn't space the floor and is not an effective player without the ball. So, the Clippers would have to take the ball out of Harden and Leonard's hands to give it to Morant. When he has the ball, however, Morant is significantly less efficient than either player, as he currently boasts a miserable 50.6% True Shooting for the season.

Defensively, the fit is even worse. A Morant-Harden backcourt duo would be highly flammable. Morant doesn't have the size or strength to defend at a high level, and Harden's defensive shortcomings are well-documented. Adding Morant into the mix would significantly lower the Clippers' already problematic defensive floor.

Add the fact that Morant has missed a total of 124 games over the last 2.5 seasons for various injuries and disciplinary reasons, and he becomes a very difficult player to justify going after.

The Clippers could easily trade for Morant by trading John Collins, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and draft capital. Firing your few remaining trade assets for an ill-fitting guard with a ton of question marks seems like a bad mistake. As dynamic and exciting a player as Morant is, the Clippers have to look elsewhere for roster upgrades.