Ja Morant’s Rift with Memphis Grizzlies Reaches New Breaking Point

Tensions have continued to rise all season long between the Memphis Grizzlies and Ja Morant over his new role in head coach Tuomas Iiasalo’s offense. Morant returned to the court after a recent one-game suspension due to conduct that was detrimental to the team. In layman's terms, Ja Morant was not giving close to his full effort on the court, and his comments off the court made it seem like he no longer wants to reside in Memphis.

In his postgame presser after Monday’s loss to the Pistons, Ja did nothing to ease tensions between the two sides. 

He’s come across as wildly immature in these interviews, and the wedge between the Grizzlies and Ja continues to be dug deeper into the cracks already showing. Also in this interview, Ja has said he has lost his joy of playing basketball and is unsure if he will be able to regain it.

Is this loss of joy due to Iiasalo’s offense that relies far less in the PnR, and keeps the ball out of his hands, or is this stemming from deeper issues with roster construction, and the team's capabilities to compete for a title? The answer is most likely somewhere in the middle.

No matter the reason for Ja’s loss of joy, the situation unfolding is beginning to look untenable between both sides. When he’s healthy, Morant could be the most fun player in the league to watch; however, I’m not entirely sure he can be a number one option on a serious contender, unless you have perfect pieces surrounding him.

Once the Grizzlies moved on from Desmond Bane, it kind of felt like the team would be entering a soft rebuild. Unless you’re a team like the Boston Celtics waiting for Jayson Tatum to return from injury, soft rebuilds rarely work in the NBA. When a team is trying to remodel its roster, I think you have to trade your stars and acquire as much draft capital as you can. Plenty of different teams will be chomping at the bit to purchase a star like Morant, and after the haul Memphis was able to receive for Bane, why wouldn’t they make a move that could net them 5+ first-round picks?

The extra capital from the Bane trade makes me think a soft rebuild could work, as they could use that capital to add a superstar alongside Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., or if they hit on a draft pick, they could find a star for a bargain. The issue is, Morant wants out. He hasn’t vocally requested a trade, but he’s done everything on the court to show he wants out. Moving on from a defensive liability, who can struggle to knock down jumpers in the playoffs, might be a fantastic decision for Memphis.

Ja still means so much to the city of Memphis, so you would need to get a massive package in return for him, but if they can't rebound from this fight, it’ll be interesting to see what teams might try to trade for him. Unfortunately for Morant, Miami seems like the most plausible situation, but he would immediately be thrust into an offense that also relies on being a team player off the ball.

This will be one of the most interesting situations to keep track of this NBA season, especially as we get closer to the trade deadline.