As the Thursday afternoon NBA trade deadline rapidly approaches, Memphis Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant's time with the franchise that drafted him second overall in 2019 appears to be coming to an end. The Grizzlies have made Morant readily available in trade talks, and the organization has shifted its focus to a full-scale rebuild after trading All-Star big man Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Utah Jazz.
However, the Grizzlies are struggling to generate a real market for Morant, as those with interest have not been willing to offer up a first-round pick in discussions, league sources told ClutchPoints. General manager Zach Kleiman and the Grizzlies' brass are ready to move on from Morant before the trade deadline if they can salvage a first-round pick.
To this point, teams have been viewing Morant in the same category as Trae Young, who was moved by the Atlanta Hawks to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. No draft picks were involved in the Young trade, which is the same ideology teams are operating with when approaching the Grizzlies for Morant.
In the days leading up to the NBA trade deadline, the Miami Heat, Sacramento Kings, and Milwaukee Bucks have all called the Grizzlies to discuss a Morant trade, sources said. While all three teams hold a level of interest in the two-time All-Star, each scenario presents different complications.
Morant and his camp hold zero interest in being traded to the Kings, ClutchPoints' Tomer Azarly reported on Wednesday. Sacramento would only entertain such a trade if it were able to essentially swap Zach LaVine for the All-Star guard. But there is serious pushback in Sacramento to such a move, especially with Morant signaling that he holds no interest in playing for the organization.
Potential news of the Kings trading for Morant would come as a shock to many around the league.
The Heat have long been linked to Morant, and they have been labeled by league sources as his preferred landing spot. With the Milwaukee With all indications from the Bucks earlier in the week being that they would hold onto Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Heat began pivoting to other potential options before the trade deadline, including Morant.
Even though there is a level of interest in trading for Morant, the Heat do not want to give up anything more than expiring contracts and second-round assets. Miami will not be offering a first-round pick for Morant, sources said, especially now that they can attempt to renew Giannis trade talks in the summer.
That leaves the Bucks, who made it clear Giannis would not be traded earlier in the week and made their intentions to keep him clear to the league on Thursday. Morant has been linked to the Bucks in a potential buy-low spot using the contracts of Kyle Kuzma and Bobby Portis, but there are obstacles in their pursuit as well.
Milwaukee owns no future second-round picks, and it would take getting at least one other team involved to land Morant. That is why league personnel no longer view the Bucks as a real destination for Morant.
With the trade deadline approaching, the Grizzlies have no path to getting real value for Morant, which is why they will likely hold onto the disgruntled superstar into the offseason.
