Ja Morant has zero trade value despite being publicly listed on the trade block – but Atlanta Hawks fans could have predicted this.
Atlanta just experienced this lesson itself after trading Trae Young to the Washington Wizards. After over seven years of service, the franchise’s second-greatest player was dealt for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. This was a blatant salary dump reflective of a larger trend in the NBA.
Small point guards who don’t play defense just don’t get it done anymore. In fact, no player can afford to be a truly bad defender. The NBA is as skilled as ever, meaning even the worst offensive player on the opposing team has a solid isolation scoring game. Morant and Young cannot hide on defense, and the evidence is increasingly clear that their defensive impact overshadows their star-level offensive output.
Like Young, Morant is having his worst season since his rookie year. He just can’t seem to get the ball in the hoop, falling 5.3% inside the arc and 10.1% from deep relative to last season. While it's reasonable to expect Morant to turn his season around, he isn’t exactly driving his trade value up.
You can't talk about a Ja Morant trade without acknowledging his concerning off-court record. He made headlines on Thursday after getting caught in a shouting match with teammate Vince Williams Jr. before the team's game in Berlin. When you factor in his pair of suspensions in 2023, there is reason for any potential trade destination to exercise caution.
Morant is an "outdated" point guard who has been struggling this season and has locker room concerns. If Trae Young couldn't warrant a first round pick, the Grizzlies are in for a rough time.
Memphis should expect the worst in trade negotiations
The Memphis Grizzlies are in a much gloomier situation than the Hawks were leading up to Young’s trade.
Atlanta has Jalen Johnson on the rise. While Young may not have been the right co-star alongside him, the team has plenty of young talent ready for an increased opportunity. Therefore, dumping Young for no value was acceptable. The team doesn’t need four first round picks; they need the flexibility to go all-in and build around Johnson.
On the contrary, Memphis has a clunky lineup. Jaren Jackson Jr. is still one of the world’s best defenders, but the talent drops off quickly after him. Cedric Coward, Zach Edey, and Jalen Wells are in the early stages of their respective NBA careers, but they are all older than 22. Most teams would rather have fellow 22-year-old Dyson Daniels than any of the Grizzlies’ role players.
While the Grizz sold high on Desmond Bane, they squandered the return package by using two of their four picks earned to trade up for Coward in the 2025 draft. This leaves the franchise with eight firsts, including two swaps in their favor, over the next seven seasons. This is a solid amount of draft capital, but there's a catch.
Memphis’s timeline makes little sense. Jackson Jr. is 26 – any pick will take serious time to develop into a true star alongside their defensive centerpiece. Similar to Atlanta, the best thing they can do is offload their bad salary and wait for a star to fall into their lap. Only the Hawks have reason to believe this might happen, as they hold the Pelicans’ 2026 first and Johnson is only 24.
Memphis will have to resort to the trade market to find its star of the future, assuming they don’t blow it up by trading JJJ. Grizzlies fans should prepare for the worst if they indeed move on from Morant.