When he wakes on Feb. 6, the day after the NBA Trade Deadline has passed, Ja Morant will almost certainly still be a member of the Memphis Grizzlies.
There are a few reasons for this. For one, as NBC Sports’ Grant Liffmann said in a recent video, Memphis decision-maker Zach Kleinman tends to hold on to his assets rather than trade them — especially when it would likely have to be a swap of bad contracts.
It would have to be that kind of swap because of the bigger issue facing a Morant trade: There is not much of a market for him. As evidence, look at what The Athletic’s Sam Amick wrote about the Rockets and their president Raphiel Stone’s potential interest in Morant.
Stone, who values this young core greatly and has frequently resisted the temptation to reach for overpriced roster shortcuts. Case in point, league sources say they’re not interested in pursuing Memphis’ Ja Morant despite having lost veteran point guard Fred VanVleet for the season with a torn ACL.
The challenge in trading Morant is that availability remains the best ability. Morant has missed the Grizzlies’ last 10 games with a calf strain (notably, Memphis is 7-3 in those 10 games), and he hasn’t played 65+ games since his rookie season. Interested teams would also need to ask how Morant would fit culturally in their locker room.
If Morant gets traded — and this is true of other point guards rumored to be available such as Trae Young and LaMelo Ball — it is more likely something that happens during the offseason. At the deadline, there just isn’t expected to be the needed market to get a deal done. The bigger short-term question in Memphis may be whether Morant can fit in with and accentuate what has worked for the Grizzlies with him out.
Read the full article here