Jerry-rigging Ja out of Memphis
Memphis saw what Atlanta has – Corey Kispert, C.J. McCollum – wants some of that, has to have it. Memphis sees what New Orleans did, Jordan Poole, needs it.
Waterbugs are out. After a brief back-in-love with small guards, NBA teams instead seek a five-man lineup of 6-9 five-toolers. Players are not traded for picks, not with franchises fetishizing first-round selections (with the accompanying fifth-rate salaries). Rather, underwhelming NBA veterans return other underwhelming NBA veterans.
That's where the NBA is, in its moment. Shipping out an aging center in a tax dodge? Moving on from a moody point guard? Require disassociation from an old relationship and its Young offspring? The answer, already written, is expiring salaries. Shorter, less-aggravating, contracts.
This ideal earns its push with Ja Morant, the moody one. The 26-year old should be explosive, his talents should support a franchise. Yet his game hasn't advanced past its precocious start, his immature moans and pisses weren't welcome in Memphis' locker room past September.
Memphis and its 17-22 Grizzlies are ready to move on from Morant (19 points per game this season, 7.6 assists), a franchise player whom Memphis (No. 10 in the West) won six times with in 18 tries so far in 2025-26. Those six blips in the resume do not hold up to scrutiny: Morant's Memphis lineup beat Indiana and New Orleans, then Phoenix by a point. Topped Dallas when Morant missed 13-20 attempts, beat the Clippers in L.A. with Ja missing 8-12 from the floor, plus that dominant home victory over a Giannis-less Buck crew.
Morant's played but once in the New Year, poorly, missing time with a calf strain. He averages a career-low 28.3 minutes per game and career worsts in twos (47 percent) and threes (21 percent). He is starting to become a turnaround jumper guy, pop-ups, it ain't working. Worse, these are the ineffective grunts which strained his calf. Ja Morant is not burdened by NBA overuse.
He is 27 by next training camp, owed $87 million over the next two seasons beyond 2025-26, when he makes nearly $40 million. The eye test won't send you to any Trade Machine: Morant may evade and oftentimes fly, but he noticeably lost a step between the start of 2025-26 and end of Whenever This All Happened.
None of this stopped us from visiting the Trade Machine to create 15 fake Ja Morant deals, involving 23 teams beyond the Grizzlies.
