To understand what brought the Memphis Grizzlies to this juncture where they are eager to trade point guard Ja Morant after years of refusal, it’s pertinent to examine the starting point of detachment.
Not even 24 hours after Memphis was swept in the first round of the playoffs last April, Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman offered a candid postmortem on a less-than-stellar campaign.
“Disappointing season,” Kleiman told reporters. “A lot to sort through here. Forty-eight wins. Good for an eighth seed, but who cares? It’s not good enough. … There’s a level that I think everyone has to embrace and be willing to get to reach the ultimate goal here. We’re not close. There’s a lot of work to be done. I need to be open-minded in multiple respects.”
Five months later, Kleiman’s tone had changed. During his media day availability, he still leaned on buzzwords like discipline and consistency in outlining organizational goals, but between the lines it was apparent his priorities had shifted. Kleiman spoke enthusiastically about youth, assets and flexibility. Morant was almost mentioned as an afterthought.
In layman’s terms, Kleiman was giving it one final push with a roster led by Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. Trading Desmond Bane earlier in the summer, breaking up a core that had spent five years together but with only nine playoff wins to show for it, was a bold admittance that the group as constructed had run its course. Jackson, in response to a productive All-Star campaign in which he played 74 games, was rewarded with a five-year, $240 million max extension in the offseason. Morant, who was also eligible for an extension, did not receive one, but was given a new head coach in Tuomas Iisalo, who was expected to empower the 26-year-old in ways Taylor Jenkins didn’t.
What has happened in the three months since Kleiman’s last public appearance, with the Grizzlies essentially at the halfway point of the 2025-26 season, is a multi-faceted realization: a reminder of the difficulties of enacting a two-timeline approach, an understanding of where Memphis resides in the Western Conference hierarchy, an urge to lean on youth and, as a result, a willingness to part ways with Morant.
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To be clear, it is not solely the fault of Morant that the Grizzlies sit in 10th place in the West, eight games under .500, having lost six of their last eight games. At the same time, given that so much of Memphis’ success — or the mere hope of the franchise — aligned with how Morant performed under Iisalo, the frostiness between both parties when juxtaposed with how the team’s young players have developed makes the removal of Morant more palatable.
The former Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Player of the Year has appeared in just 18 games this season, having been sidelined with nagging calf and ankle injuries. When he has suited up, however, the results have been poor, with the Grizzlies just 6-12 in those games. Morant’s dip in offensive efficiency, despite being paired with a coach indoctrinated in a heavy pick-and-roll scheme — in addition to public displays of dissatisfaction and an eventual team-sanctioned suspension — have been impossible to ignore.
There’s also the issue of internal order of operations as it pertains to the roster. In an ideal world, Morant — as the quarterback with a new offensive coordinator — would be the Grizzlies’ emotional leader on and off the floor. But since his multiple suspensions in Memphis — a point of contention between Morant and management, sources say — Jackson has emerged as a go-to voice, and Morant’s relationship with the organization has never been the same.
Still, nothing from this point forward will come as a surprise to either Morant or Memphis. A number of conversations have been had in recent months pertaining to the team’s direction and Morant’s subsequent future. In the past, the Grizzlies have adamantly shut down external inquiries for their starting point guard, a channel that is now wide open with both parties clear of the different direction Memphis is heading in.
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So what happens now? Because of the murky state of the point guard market, the question of what Morant could actually fetch, which teams could be interested, and what the Grizzlies hope to achieve comes into play. Memphis’ goals in a Morant trade differ slightly from those of the Atlanta Hawks, who recently moved Trae Young to Washington with CJ McCollum’s expiring $30.6 million contract as the focal point in return.
Given the level of production Memphis has seen from the likes of Cedric Coward, Zach Edey, Jaylen Wells and Cam Spencer, the organization desires a pivot to youth, sources say. In speaking with rival executives, there’s a growing thought that Jackson — while a stark contrast to Morant and despite Memphis’ insistence on him being a key part of its future — could be the next domino to fall at some point assuming a Morant trade is realized.
Earlier in the season, Minnesota made a number of inquiries to Memphis about Morant’s potential availability, with Miami also monitoring the situation as well given the absence of Terry Rozier. But financial flexibility is limited around the league, especially with playoff hopefuls, putting Morant’s $39.4 million owed this season and $86 million over the next two years as a sizable roadblock. For example, a combination of Naz Reid (who can’t be traded until Jan. 15), Mike Conley (whom the city of Memphis would welcome back with open arms), Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. works under the CBA. But are the Wolves — a first-apron team — a better group having gutted their depth for an oft-injured guard, as tantalizing as the pairing with Anthony Edwards might be?
One possible dark-horse team that executives continue to paint as a hypothetical is Toronto, which is currently eight games over .500 and fourth in the East. The whispers of buyer’s remorse on Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, making a combined $60 million, has placed the Raptors in a purgatory of sorts. They should be the type of team that explores roster upgrades (which explains their previous Anthony Davis interest) and could benefit from Morant’s aggression and gravity. But is Quickley, Collin-Murray Boyles and Ochai Agbaji enough to get Kleiman to pull the trigger? And to further the exercise, is Morant even worth that much?
Between now and the Feb. 5 trade deadline, these aforementioned Morant-centric themes will rise to the surface repeatedly. The Grizzlies today are not a good team and probably won’t be a great one for some time. But moving on from Morant, allowing both parties to get a fresh start, seems to be the most logical and needful path forward.
