Grizzlies Reportedly Eyed Asst. Coach Who Can Connect With Ja Morant Before Bane Trade
It's unclear what direction the Memphis Grizzlies are heading in after trading Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic on Sunday, but before the trade, they were reportedly set on continuing to build around Ja Morant.
Per NBA insider Marc Stein, Memphis' focus before Sunday's trade was finding an assistant coach "who can forge a strong connection with Morant." Stein noted that "was the prevalent forecast before the Grizzlies' trade bombshell Sunday morning."
According to Stein, Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin, Mavericks assistant coach Jared Dudley and Magic assistant coach Dale Osbourne are in the mix to be the top assistant for Tuomas Iisalo, who the team made full-time head coach in May after firing Taylor Jenkins in March.
Whether Memphis is still looking for an assistant coach who can pander to Morant appears to be in question after Sunday's trade.
The Grizzlies sent Bane to Orlando in return for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony and four first-round picks and a pick swap. While the team got a solid defender and NBA veteran in Caldwell-Pope, he isn't exactly an upgrade from Bane. Anthony, who mostly comes off the bench, had the worst season of his career last year.
Considering the players it got back along with the four first-rounders, it appears Memphis might be more focused on building for the future than it is on winning a championship now.
ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported after the trade that teams are now going to look into the availability of Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.
"The next question is what about Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.? And I don't know the answer to this. This is something that we're just starting to trying to figure out with this trade," Windhorst reported onĀ SportsCenter. "The whole league is now going to investigate this."
Though Morant seemed on his way to being a franchise player capable of leading Memphis to a championship, injuries and suspensions have limited him to just 59 games combined over the last two seasons. This year, he averaged 23.2 points and 7.3 assists in 50 games.
Though Jackson is a gifted defender who has improved as a scorer, it's unlikely that the Grizzlies would build around him.
Even if Morant and Jackson aren't going to be the future of the Grizzlies, they have plenty of trade value that could help Memphis become a championship team years down the road.
