The Boston Celtics have been urged to trade for Ja Morant amid reports of teams monitoring the disgruntled superstar’s situation with the Memphis Grizzlies.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, teams around the league are intrigued about the idea of trading for Morant after he was slapped with a one-game suspension for publicly criticizing the Grizzlies’ coaching staff, led by Tuomas Iisalo.
“The teams across the league, though, are monitoring this, keeping an eye on where this relationship stands between Ja Morant and the Grizzlies,” Charania told ESPN’s “SportsCenter” on Sunday.
A popular Celtics fan on X urged the Brad Stevens-led front office to acquire Morant as soon as possible.
“Get Ja Morant in a Celtics uniform somehow,” wrote the fan.
Ja Morant, Grizzlies On the Outs?
Meanwhile, Bracco, a social sportsbook, floated a hypothetical trade scenario that would see Boston part with three rotational pieces for the two-time All-Star guard.
Celtics would receive: Ja Morant
Grizzlies would receive: Anfernee Simons, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser
Such a trade would give the Celtics a new Big 4 of Morant, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, once Tatum returns from his Achilles injury.
Morant and Celtics star Jayson Tatum reportedly share a friendship off the court, based on mutual respect and admiration. The athletic guard infamously stated in 2022 that he doesn’t fear any teams in the West and his only goal was to take down the Celtics, who had lost to the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals.
“Nah, I’m fine in the West,” Morant had said.
With the Celtics enduring a gap year, they may have the luxury of experimenting with a player as volatile as Morant, who has two more full seasons left on his contract.
Has Ja Morant Peaked?
While the idea of Morant on the Celtics sounds intriguing, some analysts have cautioned teams against the idea of trading for the former No. 2 overall pick.
CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn highlighted on Monday that Morant has never shot better than 34.4% from three-point range in his seven-year career, a red flag for a modern-day point guard. Furthermore, Morant is having his most inefficient season overall, shooting just 40.6% from the field through the first six games of the new season.
“This is not quite the unstoppable driver we expected to dominate the league a few years ago,” Quinn wrote of Morant’s statistical regression.
“This is a player who has struggled to stay healthy, has stagnated developmentally and fills perhaps the NBA’s most crowded archetype. Small, defensively deficient point guards aren’t exactly in vogue.”
Retired NBA star DeMarcus Cousins, though, feels Morant just needs to find the right situation, urging the 26-year-old to exit Memphis.
“It’s time to move on. This ship has sailed,” Cousins advised Morant on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back” on Monday.
“The Grizzlies have made their decision on who they’re siding with when they suspended Ja. … Militant coaching combined with modern basketball is a recipe for disaster.”
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