After the Dallas Mavericks shockingly traded away their franchise player, Luka Doncic, to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, many wonder if the Memphis Grizzlies could do the same with Ja Morant. NBA analyst Howard Beck floated the idea as some speculated potential trade destinations for Morant. However, Grizzlies GM Zack Kleiman is reportedly uninterested.
Kleiman can’t blame Morant for peaking other NBA teams’ interest in trading for the score-first guard. However, his starting guard isn’t expected to be available this summer, per The Memphian’s Drew Hill.
“I can’t blame other “executives” for fantasizing about us trading Ja. But it’s just that – fantasy,” Kleiman said. “We are not trading Ja. Continue to underestimate Ja, this team and this city, and we will let our performance on the floor speak for itself. I’m not going to give this nonsense further oxygen and look forward to getting back to basketball.”
The Grizzlies will resume their regular season with the second-best record in the Western Conference standings. Trailing the Oklahoma City Thunder by 8.0 games with a 36-18 record, the Grizzlies will look to create some space between them and the Denver Grizzlies (36-19) in the second half of the 2024-25 campaign.
They finished 7-3 in their last 10 games before the All-Star break.
NBA exec names Grizzlies’ Ja Morant as a potential trade candidate
Grizzlies guard Ja Morant was named a potential trade candidate amid speculative reports before the All-Star break. After the Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis trade, fans are waiting to see which big names will be on the move during the summer.
One NBA executive believes that Morant could be someone to watch, according to The Ringer’s Howard Beck.
“I’m constantly checking in with executives around trade deadline about like, okay, what we saw, what we didn’t see, what’s next, and in this league, you are always, always, always on the lookout for who’s the next wave of stars that are going to get dealt, right?” Beck said during an episode of The Ringer NBA Show. “And somebody out of the blue said, keep an eye on Ja [Morant] this summer.”
That Morant comment stuck with Beck.
“They’re just deep enough into the Ja Morant life cycle, and also the Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr. grouping,” Beck added. “And like you know, they’re young enough, they should have plenty of runway.”
Still, you never truly know how much runway you think you’re going to have.
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