'Optimizing' Ja Morant Reportedly Why Grizzlies Fired HC Jenkins amid NBA Trade Rumors

The Memphis Grizzlies apparently weren't satisfied with their offense under head coach Taylor Jenkins despite being one of the NBA's highest-scoring teams.

ESPN's Tim MacMahon reported Monday on the Hoop Collective podcast the surprising decision to fire Jenkins "was about optimizing Ja Morant."

"That was a primary motivator for this decision," MacMahon said. "Look, there has been noise about Ja being unhappy all season long. There has been noise about could Memphis look to move Ja this summer. More so, could Ja look to get out of Memphis this summer? Could Ja look to force a trade or at least request a trade? Would Memphis shop him this summer?"

The Athletic's Sam Amick, Fred Katz and Joe Vardon pointed to a similar rationale when they provided the initial insights into a firing almost nobody saw coming.

They detailed how Memphis has leaned much less on the pick-and-roll, which "was a point of contention as this season progressed." The team's floor general was among those who were unhappy with the change.

"But when he’s been on the court, according to a league source, Morant has complained about the new scheme, which takes the ball out of his hands and removes the screens he likes to use as a ball-handler to make plays," per The Athletic.

Amick, Katz and Vardon also cited one source who said Morant's body language seems to be up and down on a given night in part "because he hates the offense."

Showing Jenkins the door was a bold call. Memphis had just nine games left in the regular season at the time of his dismissal, and the team isn't in jeopardy of missing the playoffs. At 44-30, the Grizzlies are fifth in the Western Conference and 1.5 games ahead of the seventh-place Minnesota Timberwolves to avoid the play-in tournament.

But there isn't necessarily a wrong time to fire a head coach who has lost the faith of the roster and the front office.

While nobody can see into the future, general manager Zach Kleiman clearly came to believe an early playoff exit beckoned if Jenkins remained the head coach. Even if he has little time to get his ideas across to the players, Tuomas Iisalo changes the equation a bit as the interim replacement.

Whether Iisalo stays on as the permanent head coach or not, the change also looks like a signal to Morant about how much the Grizzlies are still invested in him.