Before the Luka Doncic trade, trading the face of the franchise seemed like an absurd idea, but now anyone seems to be at risk, including Ja Morant.
The Grizzlies star is a name to “keep an eye on” this summer according to Howard Beck of The Ringer.
“I’m constantly checking in with executives around trade deadline about like, OK, 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 on Real Ones. “We just saw the shock of all shocks with the Luka deal, we saw Jimmy Butler, there’s already whispers once again about Giannis (Antetokounmpo). And somebody out of the blue said, keep an eye on Ja this summer.”
Since the deadline has passed, players can now only be traded when the season ends and Beck made it clear that the Grizzlies franchise have made no indication they will move Ja as yet, but that’s not stopping him from speculating.
“They are just deep enough into the Ja Morant life cycle, and also the Ja, Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr. grouping,” Beck said. “They’re young enough. They should have plenty of runway. But again, in this league, you never have as much runway as you think you’re going to have. And Ja’s obviously had some issues. Everything’s been fine for a while here. So, not to overplay stuff from a year and a half, two years ago, but at a certain point teams will pivot.”
He made sure to affirm that it’s a definite that Memphis will part ways with Ja, but if they don’t make a deep playoff run, it could be an option.
“I’m not saying it’s going to happen, I’m not saying it should happen,” Beck said. “I’m just saying it’s one of those things I’m just kind of keeping an eye on if they were to flame out early.”
Some potential landing spots for Morant include Orlando, Miami, Houston, Detroit, Utah and Chicago.
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