Is Ja Morant going to be the first big star to get moved in the 2025 NBA season? One NBA insider is hearing some rumors.
The Oklahoma City Thunder embarrassingly swept the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs.
The Grizzlies had a strong start to the season, and at one point were the second seed in the Western Conference. But they bizarrely fired Taylor Jenkins as their head coach right before the playoffs.
This marked them falling all the way to the eighth seed, and having to earn their way through the play-in. And now, after their playoff journey is over, there could be a lot of change for the Grizzlies.
Could this mean the Grizzlies finally move on from Ja Morant? One NBA insider gave an update on what he’s been hearing about his future.
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Tim MacMahon spoke on ESPN’s Hoop Collective podcast about Ja Morant’s future with the Grizzlies. He did mention that both the Grizzlies and Morant seem happy with each other.
However, MacMahon admitted that he has heard rumors about Morant being a trade candidate this offseason, mostly because of his lowered value.
“Zach Kleiman remains fully committed to Ja Morant. And I don’t know anything that tells me the commitment is not mutual.”
“But there’s a lot of ‘whispering and rumbling’ around the league regarding Morant potentially being available on the trade market. He misses a ton of games, and he tends to get hurt a lot.”
“When I’m talking to people around the league, GMs, execs, scouts, I don’t have people telling me they think he’s a top 10 player when he’s healthy this year.”
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The Grizzlies believed Morant could be a superstar they could build a contender around for years to come.
However, his behavior issues started to become a real problem. Even as recently as a month ago, Morant was generating controversy with his behavior.
Bill Simmons believes Morant has larger problems outside of his behavior. If the Grizzlies share this opinion, they might look to cut ties with him.
However, it’s hard to see them get rid of Morant, as his price right now is much lower than it should be, and they wouldn’t get a big return.
