5 Ja Morant Trade Ideas For When The Grizzlies Give Up On Him…

5 Ja Morant Trade Ideas For When The Grizzlies Give Up On Him…

The Memphis Grizzlies made it clear back in February that they had no interest in trading their franchise pillar John and were still committed to making him the center of what they do. But then over the last few months, they experienced a major slide down the standings. They fired their head coach and they got swiftly eliminated in four games by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs. Now, according to ESPN reporter Tim McMahon, there’s a lot of chatter going on behind the scenes in the NBA world about the Grizzlies starting to open up to the idea of trading away John Morant. And if that becomes a real thing, then Bleach Report just posted an article theorizing five trades that could become potential options for them to make. As always, we will be going through each of these proposals, analyzing why or why not the teams involved would want to do it, who benefits the most from it, and whether or not the deals should be made. Before we start though, it turns out a good amount of you watching right now aren’t even subscribed to the channel. So, if you enjoy the content, consider hitting the subscribe button as not only does it help out a ton, but it also very much appreciate it. Now, with that being said, let’s begin. The first proposal from the article is between the Houston Rockets and the Memphis Grizzlies where the Rockets receive John Morant and Jay Huff in exchange for Fred Van Vleet, Cam Whitmore, and two first round picks. The Houston Rockets are so close to being ready for the big stage with aounding defense that comes at you with so many different switchable and versatile weapons to cause havoc on that end with. They put up as good of a fight as they possibly could have in the first round, taking the new look Golden State Warriors to seven games, making life incredibly difficult for Steph Curry the whole time. And now it’s pretty obvious what they are missing. A true number one option and go-to scoring threat. They have a lot of number TWs and number threes in their lineup, but their leading scorer this year was Jaylen Green, averaging just 21 points per game. and Green is just not good enough to be that guy for a contender. I love Moran’s fit on this team as an elite athlete that can speed up the Rockets pace of play. He can take games over when he gets hot. He puts constant pressure on defenses off the dribble and his presence alone would open things up a lot more for some of the Rockets secondary scoring options like Alpin Shenon, Jabari Smith Jr., Aean Thompson, and Dylan Brooks. The Rockets also easily have the assets and depth at their disposal to generate a worthwhile star player trade offer as we see here with Cam Whitmore being a very intriguing young talent that can’t even break into the Rockets rotation right now. Plus, veteran Fred Van Valle being an NBA champion who would be a very solid short-term replacement from Rorant in Memphis. The two first round picks also definitely bolster this offer, but based on the way that star trades have gone over the last few years, I do think the Rockets would have to include at least one more pick or worthwhile player into this offer to get it across the finish line. Luckily for them, they have a lot of expendable assets that they could include if they really wanted to bring John Moran in. So, the Rockets are definitely a real potential landing spot for him, and this proposal is on the right track. It just needs a little bit more included. The next proposal from the article is between the Grizzlies and the Miami Heat, where the Heat received Jarant in exchange for Tyler Herro, Nicola Yoic, and a firstround pick. The Miami Heat have never really been a franchise that likes to rebuild or tank under the leadership of Pat Riley. So, in the postJimmy Butler era, you would think they would be looking for a quick solution this summer to try to bounce back. The team they have right now is capped out at a level of mediocrity at best, finishing the year with a losing record and barely making it out of the playin tournament before comfortably being handled in the first round. Their biggest need is also similar to the Houston Rockets in that they have guys that would excel in secondary roles, but nobody built to be the number one leading the way. And even though Tyler Hero was named an all-star this year, he’s definitely more suited to be a team’s second or third best player than he is to be suited as the best player on a team with winning aspirations. Hero is someone that probably should have been traded a while ago, too, because the writing was on the wall for a while that the heat would fall off hard and frustrate Jimmy Butler if improvements were not made. And now they’ve waited too long and things have blown up in their face. if they’re able to flip hero for Morant here, that would be a fantastic start to climbing back into the mix in the Eastern Conference. But I also just don’t think that this offer is enough to beat out other potential suitors that would give the Grizzlies an offer. Hero’s presence on the Grizzlies would clash with Desmond Bane at the shooting guard position. And while Hero is a solid passer for a shooting guard, he’s not enough of a natural playmaker to play point guard full-time. Nicolovic is a fine two-way role player, but not enough to move the needle much. And one single first round pick that will likely be in the middle of the round does not make up for that either. Morance’s fit on the Heat who have been looking for a point guard for years is obvious, but I struggle to see the Grizzlies being won over by this one. The next proposal from the article is between the Grizzlies and the New Orleans Pelicans where the Pelicans received Jamarant in exchange for Dejonte Murray, Herb Jones, and a first round pick. This year could not have possibly been a bigger disaster for the Pelicans as they finished in second to last place in the conference during a completely injury-riddled year. The assumption is that they’re going to blow things up and reset, but what if they didn’t have to? Upgrading big time at point guard and reuniting John Marant and Zion Williamson who were AAOU teammates back in the day would not only be incredible entertainment, but on paper they are a match made in heaven talent and play style-wise. Morant likes to play fast and dominate in transition. Williamson is at his best when he can get a full head of steam and attack the basket as an elite finisher around the rim. Zion’s questionable and unreliable health has made it so he can’t really be trusted as a team’s franchise cornerstone and number one option. But if that pressure was no longer on him, I think he would absolutely thrive. I’m also impressed with the general framework of this offer as Herb Jones is one of the best perimeter defenders in the entire NBA right now and would contribute immediately in Memphis. Dejonte Murray is a quick fix at the point guard spot to replace Morant and a first round pick on top of it all is always nice. Similar to the Rockets offer earlier though, the Pelicans probably need to include just a little bit more possibly by way of a pick or something else to get this offer across the finish line, but it is close. Dejante Murray may be a former all-star, but it’s become pretty apparent that he no longer provides all-star impact and that his numbers can be a bit hollow at times. If this was DeJonte Murray from 2022, then it would probably be a done deal. But that is not the case here in 2025. A lineup of John, CJ McCollum, Trey Murphy, Zion Williamson, and Eve Mei is dangerous and balanced. So, it would be in their best interest to make the necessary adjustments to turn this one into a reality. The next proposal from the article is between the Grizzlies and the Orlando Magic, where the Magic received John Morant in exchange for Anthony Black, Jonathan Isaac, Cole Anthony, Jet Howard, and three first round picks. The Orlando Magic’s offense is a disaster. And after two years of playoff basketball, this needs to be the off season where the Magic take their weaknesses seriously and do something about it. They have been the worst ranked offensive team to make the playoffs in back-to-back years now. And while Paulo Bankro and Freron Vagner are very talented scorers, they simply can’t do everything, nor should they be expected to do everything. The Magic are in desperate need of playmaking from the point guard position to help things flow a lot better. So obviously, John Moran would be an amazing solution to their problems, and the fit is clear as day. Despite this offer from the Magic not including a borderline starc caliber player, it is actually maybe my favorite proposal from the article with a very strong balance of player and draft capital. In the place of a star to headline the offer, they’re giving the Grizzlies two young point guards in Cole Anthony and Anthony Black that supplement the hole left behind by Morant. They’re adding in an alldefense caliber forward in Jonathan Isaac. Jet Howard admittedly hasn’t done much to write home about early in his young career, but is worth taking a chance on as a recent lottery pick. And three first round picks is more than any of the other offers included. Stacking draft capital would allow the Grizzlies to potentially reload through the draft in the event of a potential reset. Or they could repackage some of those picks in a big trader offer of their own down the line. And the players they’re getting in return could all contribute from day one, too. The Magic obviously pushed to make this happen so they can end their hunt for a long-term solution at point guard. And John would immediately improve their horrid offensive struggles while providing proven playoff experience. So I wouldn’t be surprised at all if something like this actually happened. And finally, the last proposal from the article is between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Sacramento Kings, where the Kings receive Jamarant in exchange for Demar De Rozan, Devin Carter, Jonas Valenunis, and a firstround pick. After seeing De’aran Fox request a trade and ultimately get shipped out at the trade deadline this season, the Kings are now yet another team lacking in the point guard department. That in theory is the rationale behind a proposal like this. The Kings owe it to themselves to give this group one last chance to try to build something worthwhile. And I’m not necessarily a believer of the idea that they need to tear things down completely immediately like many others are. They only had Zack Lavine for less than half of the season after bringing him in from the De’aran Fox trade and pairing him with an all-star point guard would give them one of the most explosive scoring back courts in the NBA. And with big man Damonte Sabonis passing the ball better than any other big man not named Nicola Joic. That is a strong trio. The Kings never replaced Fox properly at the point guard position last year. So if Morant comes in and provides a similar explosive playmaking burst of speed and a knack for scoring the ball, they may be able to replicate some 2023 season success where they had the NBA’s number one ranked offense that year. Trading away Demard Rozan gives the Grizzlies an answer at the small forward spot that they’ve been looking for. And Jonas Valenunis would be a good mentor for Zack Edy in the middle. But where this deal falls apart for me is that it’s just not enough to land a player of John Moran’s caliber. I repeat myself a lot in these videos, but star players rarely get traded for pennies on the dollar. One single first round pick is not enough to sweeten the deal to the point where Memphis would say yes. If Morant is available, then the Grizzlies will have a lot of teams sending offers for him. And if this is the best Sacramento has to put on the table, then unfortunately they’re not going to end the day as the highest biders, even if I do like Morance’s fit there in theory. And with that being said, that’s all I have for you today. Make sure to like the video, subscribe to the channel, and comment down below what you think about these proposed trades. Thanks for watching and I’ll see you all next

In this video we analyze five trade ideas proposed by Bleacher Report theorizing where the Memphis Grizzlies could trade Ja Morant if they wanted to move on from him this offseason…

BR Article – https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25193212-trade-packages-and-landing-spots-if-grizzlies-deal-ja-morant

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