The Memphis Grizzlies were expected to be the next powerhouse in the Western Conference after they recorded back-to-back 50-win seasons in 2021-22 and 2022-23. However, the franchise has taken a few steps back over the last few years, in large part due to injuries and off-court issues endured by Ja Morant.
Their 2024-25 campaign didn’t end favorably, either, with the Grizzlies getting swept by the Thunder in the first round of the playoffs. Entering the 2025 offseason, the Grizzlies face many questions, but none more important than the future of Morant.
According to ESPN’s Tim McMahon, there is a growing belief within the league that the Grizzlies could trade Morant in the offseason.
“Zach Kleiman [Grizzlies GM] remains fully committed to Ja Morant, and I don’t know anything that tells me the commitment is not mutual, but there’s a lot of whispering and rumbling around the league regarding Morant potentially being available on the trade market,” MacMahon told the “Hoop Collective” podcast on April 28.
Why a Ja Morant Trade is Feasible
“He misses a ton of games, and he tends to get hurt a lot,” McMahon continued. “When I’m talking to people around the league, GMs, execs, scouts, I don’t have people telling me they think he’s a top 10 player when he’s healthy this year.”
The NBA insider noted that the Grizzlies, who fired head coach Taylor Jenkins at the end of the season, aren’t opposed to making big moves. As such, he wouldn’t be shocked if they pulled the trigger on a Ja Morant trade, primarily due to his injury history.
“They fired their coach with nine games left in the regular season, they had one win against any team with a winning record after January,” MacMahon noted. “They beat the Pistons in April; other than that, they were o-fer against teams with a winning record. This core that everybody was so excited about, they’ve won a playoff series in their five years together. One. They’re not close; they’ve got to figure things out.”
A Forgettable Season For Morant
Besides being played by injuries, Morant has seen his game progressively regress in recent years. The athletic guard appeared in only 50 games in 2024-25, a year after playing just nine games. Morant has never reached the 70-game threshold in his six-year career — a worrying sign for his ability to survive the rigours of an NBA season.
Morant also saw a significant dip in his numbers, averaging his fewest points (23.2) since his sophomore season and fewest assists (7.3) since his third year in the league. Furthermore, he shot his worst FG% (45.4) since his second year in the NBA, and continued to struggle from three-point range, making only 30% of his shots from beyond the arc.
Morant’s season ended tragically in Game 3 against the Grizzlies after he suffered a hip injury. At the time of his injury, the Grizzlies had amassed a 29-point lead and looked in prime position to make the series competitive. Grizzlies guard Scottie Pippen Jr. feels his team would have won the series if not for Morant’s injury.
“I think we all felt pretty well,” Pippen told “Run It Back” after the series . “We were winning at home. In the playoffs, I feel like home court advantage is one of the biggest things, and OKC, obviously we had a 50-point loss that was crazy, but second game, we came, we got better. Third game, we were up, Ja goes down, and then even in the fourth game we still competed, so it could go either way I feel like if he doesn’t go out.
If a Ja Morant trade is indeed on the table this season, teams such as the Heat, Timberwolves and Rockets are expected to be most aggressive in his pursuit.
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