Grizzlies should ride out the storm with Ja Morant

The star guard has seen his name floated through trade rumors

Dec 17, 2020; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) handles the ball against Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) during the first half at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Justin Ford-Imagn Images | Justin Ford-Imagn Images

Not every fight has to end in divorce.

When a city's love for a player and a player's love for a city outweigh the clashes between the two, patience and forgiveness can overcome any squabble between a superstar and their team.

As Ja Morant regains his star form on the court highlighted by a 40pt overtime thriller and a marquee performance in international waters, along with publicly making his preference to stay in Memphis clear, the Grizzlies may want to rethink making Ja available in trade talks.

Ja Morant made his Grizzlies return wearing an iced out pair of Swarovski x Nike Ja 3s 🥶💎 pic.twitter.com/LbtytuSykc

— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) January 19, 2026

Hypothesis: Ja wants to be in Memphis, and Memphis wants Ja in Memphis, so, therefore, Memphis should keep Ja in Memphis

Jan 21, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Memphis Grizzlies forward/center Jaren Jackson Jr. (8) reacts with guard Ja Morant (12) during the first quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Ja Morant is back to his high-flying dynamic downhill self, bringing effective flare and electric shotmaking everywhere he goes.

Morant's last four games feature box scores of 23 points & 12 assists, 24 points & 13 assists, 16 points & 11 assists, and 40 points & 3 assists; that's an average of 26 PPG - 10 APG - 3 RPG - 1.5 SPG on 55% FG% in that span.

Recently, Ja Morant made his wishes clear to the Memphis Grizzlies: he does not want to be traded.

Everybody in here who knows me, knows I am a very loyal guy.

I got a logo on my back, and that should tell you where I want to be.

Ja Morant

Ja Morant referred to the Memphis Grizzlies logo he has tattoo’d on his back when asked about his future with the team 🗣️🐻

“Everybody in here who knows me, knows I’m a very loyal guy. I got a logo on my back, and that should tell you where I want to be.”

Thoughts? 🤔

Via.… pic.twitter.com/QBKquWFkQB

— Courtside Buzz (@CourtsideBuzzX) January 18, 2026

Sharon Brown of the Memphis Flyer wrote today, "There are NBA stars who belong to teams, and then there are stars who belong to cities. Ja Morant has always felt like the latter in Memphis," which sums up the relationship succinctly.

Jaren Jackson Jr. commented on his teammate Ja going through the media cycle of trade rumors:

I feel for him, that is my brother...

No matter what, he changed my life coming here.

Jaren Jackson Jr.

Jaren Jackson Jr., teammates with Ja Morant since Ja was drafted, with a long and thoughtful answer on today's news.

"I feel for him, that's my brother...No matter what, he changed my life coming here."

Full quote ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/kM1cRgxHIW

— Matt Infield (@Matt_Infield) January 10, 2026

Ja means more to Memphis than he does to any other NBA city, both on and off the court.

The Grizzlies just saw Atlanta trade Trae Young, a similarly undersized offensive-minded star, for peanuts, at what must be an all-time low point in trade value for these offensive star guard types.

Is Memphis really going to end the Ja Morant era with near-nothing in return just to move on from the media circus? Couldn't they also put to bed these trade rumors to end the circus themselves? It seems after Morant's recent comments, the team has finally done just that.

In recent comments about these rumors, Chris Haynes reported that the Memphis Grizzlies are “very comfortable” keeping Ja Morant past the 2026 NBA trade deadline. The Grizzlies are in "no rush" to move Morant, especially if the trade market is at an all-time low for his talents.

Chris Haynes says Grizzlies are still listening to teams but not in a rush to trade Ja Morant:

"They are canvasing the market listening to teams. I was told teams have been notified that if the Grizzlies feel if there isn't a package that suits their interest, they are… pic.twitter.com/sWlS68g1eW

— Heat Central (@HeatCulture13) January 22, 2026

With the Grizzlies dealing with injuries all season to not only Morant, but Zach Edey, Brandon Clarke, Ty Jerome, Scotty Pippen Jr., it might not be the worst move to slow down on all trade talks and let the team see what it looks at full strength before jumping ahead to the next iteration; the grass isn't always greener.

Memphis has a proven young stud rookie in Cedric Coward bursting onto the scene as the exact type of dynamic two-way wing one would want next to stars Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson. Jr. going forward. The Grizzlies young prospects in Jaylen Wells and Zach Edey provide even more of a foundation with two-way talents who one would want to surround its star scoring creators.

Why not give this team more time to gel once the injuries calm down, to see if a Ja Morant regains his star form on the court by doing so, and quiets down the noise off of it?

Ja Morant means to much to the city of Memphis to trade him for peanuts. There's no guarantee a rebuild on the fly would send this team in a better direction. If Ja and his teammates want Ja in Memphis, and the entire city of Memphis wants Ja in Memphis, and this unit could realistically be a playoff team or better between internal player development and injury recoveries, then there's really no reason to trade Ja Morant for nothing other than caving to the outside pressure of the national media piranhas trying to talk trades into existence to feed the news cycle.