Kings Must Consider This Blockbuster Ja Morant Trade With Grizzlies

The Sacramento Kings would have to consider swapping their star guard for Memphis Grizzlies' Ja Morant.

Jan 21, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) reacts during the first quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at FedExForum. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

On Thursday, Kyle Madson brought up a potential Ja Morant trade on ESPN 1320 via The Insiders with James Ham, and I think it’s worth discussing for the Sacramento Kings. We’ve heard a lot about Morant in the last few months, with his exit from the Memphis Grizzlies feeling more like a when, rather than an if. 

Morant is one of the more complicated players on and off the court, but a mercurial talent like Ja is something that is rarely available to the Sacramento market. 

Now, we have no clue if the asking price for Morant will be THIS low, but if it is, the Kings should heavily consider making the call. 

Trade details:

Sacramento receives: Ja Morant

Memphis receives: Zach LaVine, 2027 first-round pick (via SAS)

Take a chance on me

Maybe the Kings aren’t necessarily dreaming of Ja as the reference to ABBA’s 1978 hit implies, but Sacramento isn’t the type of team that can have its head in the clouds when it comes to big names. 

Morant would immediately make the Kings a more exciting team and give them a young(ish) piece to build around over the next few years. Even if you don’t believe that Morant will stay healthy and/or return to his All-NBA, the idea of swapping LaVine and a very low-level pick for an answer at the position they may need most is enticing.

"The Memphis Grizzlies won't trade Ja Morant for just anything... shopping these superstars, you'll find out what you're made of without them on the floor."@ChandlerParsons says Memphis & Milwaukee must be patient in moving Morant & Giannis 🗣️@MichelleDBeadle | @TeamLou23 pic.twitter.com/ZTv252Ezse

— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) January 26, 2026

There are obviously holdups to acquiring Morant, regardless of price. I’ll gloss over the off-court issues because we’ve heard about them ad nauseam, and to Ja’s credit, it does feel like he’s turned things around. 

The biggest questions with Ja on the court are about his defense and shooting. I’m not going to try to convince you that Morant is suddenly going to be an above league-average shooter from beyond the arc, but (clears throat) I am going to try to convince you that he can function as a part of an above-average team defense. 

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

The Grizzlies have had a top-15 defensive rating in every season since Ja was drafted out of Murray State in 2019. Of course, it would be remiss of me not to mention how many other good defenders Ja has played with in Memphis. Jaren Jackson Jr. is a former Defensive Player of the Year and a top-tier rim protector. Jackson Jr., Dillon Brooks, De’Anthony Melton, Desmond Bane, and Grayson Allen have all played a big part in the Grizzlies’ defense being near the top of the league.

Even with good (or great) defenders around him, Morant still needs to be able to function in Memphis’ defensive scheme for them to be as successful as they have been defensively. James Ham pushed back on this when I mentioned it on ESPN 1320 this morning, which is completely fair, but there are plenty of examples of guards like Morant dragging their teams’ defensive rating down. 

For example, the Atlanta Hawks have never been better than 19th in the league defensively with Trae Young on the roster, despite also having good defenders around him like Clint Capela, Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, and Dejounte Murray at various points in his career.

We gotta talk about Ja Morant's defense.

He's picking up 94, applying pressure, getting steals, diving on the ball for loose balls, face-guarding Steph, and this monster block on Draymond.

Real tone-setting type stuff defensivelypic.twitter.com/EWp1mzkJQX

— Parker Fleming (@PAKA_FLOCKA) December 20, 2024

Looking at Morant's on/off data (with low leverage minutes removed) via Databallr, the Grizzlies are actually slightly worse defensively with Ja off the court since the 2019-20 season. The difference is just 0.6 in defensive rating, which isn’t the case for other smaller guards like Young, Steph Curry, Jalen Brunson, and De’Aaron Fox in the same timespan.

Memphis was definitely better with both Jackson Jr. and Morant on the court together, but seeing that their defense doesn’t fall off a cliff with just Morant is promising. 

Any other holdups?

Aside from all of the injuries, my biggest worry when it comes to taking a swing on Morant would be the Kings handcuffing themselves to a point guard before the draft. The consensus top three players, including Darryn Peterson, could all fit around Morant with relative ease. The issue is that Sacramento isn’t guaranteed a top-three pick, and if they fall and are forced to pass on a player like Kingston Flemings, Labaron Philon, or even Darius Acuff, that could be problematic. 

As much as I do worry about the draft, getting a player of Morant's quality for a player that doesn’t fit what the Kings are building and a low-level pick is too good to pass up. 

If it were me, I might even consider offering the Kings’ 2031 first-round pick, which only has swap rights instead of protections. Morant would be a huge risk, but getting a player of his caliber to build around while being able to move LaVine, who clearly doesn’t want to be in Sacramento, would be a win in my mind.