What you need to know about a possible Ja Morant trade

Shams Charania of ESPN is reporting the the Memphis Grizzlies, for the first time, are "entertaining" trade offers for their start point guard Ja Morant. Morant, who is currently on the injured list and in arguably in the midst of his worst offensive season ever, remains the one true superstar in team history. Any move on from Morant would signal a major shift for a Grizzlies franchise that has publicly had the back of Ja throughout his career.

As Memphis seriously considers a transaction of this scale, there are three things to consider.

Ja Morant is not Trae Young

The connections between Ja's situation and Trae Young's are fairly easy to make on the surface. Two undersized point guard, two players who perhaps the NBA of 2026 has perhaps left behind in last year - or the last half decade.

But Young has a player option on his deal that surely impacted his trade value to the NBA, specifically the Washington Wizards who eventually traded for Trae. Ja's contract is guaranteed through 2028 - and can be seen as both a positive and a negative. There's no need to worry about Morant moving on if he's unsatisfied with his destination.

But given his current situation both on the court and on the injury list - Ja has not played more than seven games in a row since the 2022-2023 season - perhaps that can be seen as a negative. Any team moving for Morant is betting on him coming in to be able to be the Ja of old. That means actually playing basketball games, and doing so at a high level.

Who could be prepared to place such a wager?

Miami and Milwaukee make the most immediate sense

Two teams in the Eastern Conference looking to take advantage of a landscape without Tyrese Haliburton or Jayson Tatum. Two squads aiming to make stars happy (especially Giannis with the Bucks). Two teams who have the right combination of young player/draft pick and matching contracts that could potentially make an offer that Memphis considers.

Could a Miami trade centered around Davion Mitchell and a 1st plus matching salary, or Ryan Rollins, Kyle Kuzma, Bobby Portis, and a 1st from Milwaukee, be enough for the Grizzlies to ship out a player whose presence in Memphis has shaped an entire generation of fandom in the city? Surely there will be those who see such offers as below what Ja Morant is as a player.

But who Ja is to Memphis, and the Grizzlies organization, is not the same as what his perceived trade value may be. Which leads us to...

Ja does not HAVE to be traded

There's no way of knowing who leaked this information. But Morant has not requested a trade, and Memphis usually plays things pretty close to the vest. It was unlikely to come from the Grizzlies. So assuming this is an outside actor, the two sides could still come together in an attempt to move forward. Charania's report suggests such a possibility -

Memphis is considering multiple paths forward amid the emergence of several promising young players such as Cedric Coward, Zach Edey, Jaylen Wells and Cam Spencer, including building around them and 2023 Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. The Grizzlies also remain open to continue on with Morant as a focal part of their retooling.

Flexibility is the key here. But the biggest concern for Memphis moving forward must be making a choice regarding who the "future" belongs to. The Grizzlies do have young talent. They also have two former All-Stars theoretically in the primes of their careers. In the case of Morant, what comes next must be deliberate and in lock step with whatever the vision is.

This report brings things being discussed internally more in to the light. But the Grizzlies front office, led by General Manager Zach Kleiman, is at a crossroads. Trading Ja Morant would end an era officially that was believed to potentially be the best in franchise history just a few short years ago.

Even if it's the right choice - that won't make it easy to execute. And the followthrough will be vital, regardless of what the team decides.