NBA Exec Views Ja Morant as Potential Trade Candidate During 2025 NBA Free Agency

Even though Ja Morant has been the spark plug for the Memphis Grizzlies throughout his six-year NBA career, there's at least one executive within the league keeping an eye on him as a potential trade candidate this summer.

On the latest episode of the Real Ones podcast, The Ringer's Howard Beck noted the executive tossed out Morant's name as a potential trade option if the Grizzlies have an early playoff exit.

At times in a situation like this, a team will look to break up its nucleus if the group is getting expensive without being competitive for a title and there's a directive from ownership to cut payroll.

That's not really the case for the Grizzlies, who are currently $52 million under the estimated tax line for the 2025-26 season. Morant and Desmond Bane both have multiple years remaining on their current contracts.

Jaren Jackson Jr. could potentially sign an extension this summer. He's set to enter next season on the final year of his four-year, $104.7 million contract that will pay him $23.4 million.

Morant is reaching a point where he is expensive relative to the amount of games he plays. The 25-year-old has only appeared in 41 games since the start of the 2023-24 season. He has never played more than 63 games in a season.

There have also been off-court issues involving Morant, most notably two instances on social media in which he was seen displaying a handgun. He was suspended by the NBA for both incidents, including a 25-game ban at the start of last season.

Morant hasn't had any such issues since his suspension ended. He remains an incredibly productive player when he's on the court. The two-time All-Star is averaging 20.7 points and 7.4 assists in 32 starts this season.

The Grizzlies entered the All-Star break as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference with a 36-18 record. They tied a franchise record with 56 wins during the 2021-22 season before losing to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference semifinals.

It would be a surprise to see Morant get dealt this summer because the Grizzlies have a terrific nucleus of talent that has made them competitive in the Western Conference, but the recent Luka Dončić trade proves you can't try to predict anything that a team is going to do.