The Memphis Grizzlies will apparently not be moving Ja Morant ahead of the NBA trade deadline, despite reports of a potential trade. The team reportedly shopped the 26-year-old point guard but did not find a suitable match.
Morant is under contract with the Grizzlies through the 2027–28 season, currently in the third year of a five-year, $197 million designated rookie extension. He will be eligible to sign a three-year, $178 million extension this summer.
After a promising start to his career as the 2019-20 NBA Rookie of the Year, Morant’s biggest issue has been staying on the court. This season, he has played in just 20 games, missing time with calf and ankle injuries and serving a one-game suspension.
Morant has not played more than 65 games in a season since his rookie year. During the 2023–24 season, Morant appeared in just nine games after serving a 25-game suspension to start the year and later suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.
This year, Morant is averaging fewer than 20 points per game for the first time since his second NBA season, while averaging a career-low 3.3 rebounds per game.
News that the Grizzlies would be keeping Morant comes just two days after the team traded away Jaren Jackson Jr. in a stunning eight-player swap with the Utah Jazz. The 2023 Defensive Player of the Year was sent to the Jazz, along with John Konchar, Vince Williams Jr. and Jock Landale.
In return, the Grizzlies received Walter Clayton Jr., Kyle Anderson, Taylor Hendricks and Georges Niang — along with three future first-round draft picks.
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Morant now remains a fixture in what’s become an obvious rebuild for Memphis, amid a series of significant changes for the franchise over the past year.
Last season, the Grizzlies fired head coach Taylor Jenkins and promoted assistant coach Tuomas Iisalo just nine games before the playoffs. Jenkins spent six seasons with the franchise before the two sides parted ways.
In the offseason, the team traded Desmond Bane to the Magic in exchange for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks and a future pick swap after Bane signed a max rookie extension with the team in 2023. Bane had spent his first five seasons with the Grizzlies.