Grizzlies’ Ja Morant Trade Talks Fell Apart Over One Unexpected Player

The Memphis Grizzlies and the Milwaukee Bucks almost made a trade.

According to Shams Charania, Memphis explored sending Ja Morant to the Milwaukee Bucks before the deadline. Jake Fisher backed that up, saying teams around the league believed Milwaukee’s interest was real. And earlier reporting from Michael Scotto made it clear Memphis wanted Rollins in the deal.

The Milwaukee Bucks declined to include Ryan Rollins in a trade package for Ja Morant, per @ShamsCharania pic.twitter.com/mYr229LnRS
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 7, 2026

The Dealbreaker: Ryan Rollins

It sounds crazy at first. A trade for Ja Morant, an All-Star-level player, a franchise-level talent, falls apart because of Ryan Rollins? But once you zoom out, it actually makes a lot of sense. Ja Morant's trade value is at an all-time low. Morant's availability over the last three seasons has been very concerning. Ja Morant is still only 26 years old and a change of scenery could do wonders for him.

Pairing Ja with Giannis could be very interesting but Ja is not producing at a level that warrants his current contract. Ryan Rollins on the other hand is on an amazing team friendly contract.

Ryan Rollins is 23 years old and in the middle of a breakout season. He’s putting up over 17 points and around 5.6 assists per game, while shooting nearly 41% from three. He’s stepped into a full-time starting role and hasn’t looked out of place at all. That combination, young, productive, and affordable, is exactly what teams value right now.

Why Milwaukee Said No To Morant

The Bucks’ decision really comes down to where they are as a team.

They’ve already gone all-in on building around Giannis Antetokounmpo. They’ve traded picks, sacrificed depth, and pushed their chips to the middle of the table. But the results haven’t fully met expectations, and there’s at least some uncertainty about the future. In that kind of situation, you don’t just give away one of your best young assets, especially not for a player with as many question marks as Morant right now.

What This Means for Memphis

This means that the Ja Morant in Memphis could be coming to an end this offseason. Teams don’t casually shop their franchise player. Even having these conversations signals that the Grizzlies are at least questioning what their future looks like without Morant as the centerpiece.

And what they likely learned is this: his value isn’t what it once was. This situation says a lot, about Morant, about the Grizzlies, and about how the rest of the league views both right now.