{"id":124595,"date":"2025-02-20T14:54:16","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T19:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=124595"},"modified":"2025-02-20T14:54:16","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T19:54:16","slug":"ja-morant-trade-memphis-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/20\/ja-morant-trade-memphis-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"A Ja Morant Trade Would Reset the Offense and Memphis Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prominent NBA writer\/journalist Howard Beck of\u00a0The Ringer <\/em>recently hopped on an episode of\u00a0Real Ones\u00a0<\/em>with co-hosts Raja Bell<\/a> and Logan Murdock. Part of Beck’s objective as an everyday NBA journalist is to gauge the trade market, especially in the offseason. During the discussion, Beck reported about an executive insisting on keeping a close eye on franchise star point guard Ja Morant<\/a> this summer. Since the rumblings, reports and ideas have circulated regarding the landscape of a Ja Morant trade<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Ja Morant Trade Would Reset the Offense and Memphis Culture<\/h2>\n

Memphis Grizzlies GM Zach Kleiman is more than just your modern-day NBA executive. Kleiman has built the Grizzlies roster organically and efficiently from the ground up. His established heartfelt bond with his players differentiates him from other GMs. This past Tuesday evening, Kleiman was in attendance at the Schollmaier Arena in support of Grizzlies shooting guard Desmond Bane<\/a> getting his #1 jersey retired by his alma mater TCU. Kleiman was also at Murray State supporting Ja Morant getting his #12 retired over the summer. The Morant buzz had the potential to throw a wrench in the chemistry of one of the most cohesive units this season in Memphis. Luckily for Grind City, Kleiman did not hold back at putting an abrupt end to the Morant rumors.<\/p>\n

\n

I reached out to Grizzlies GM Zach Kleiman to see if he would comment about the recent speculation around Ja. Here\u2019s what he had to say:<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t blame other \u201cexecutives\u201d for fantasizing about us trading Ja. But it\u2019s just that – fantasy. We are not trading Ja. Continue to\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Drew Hill (@DrewHill_DM) February 19, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Morant’s 2-Way Impact<\/h3>\n

One of the foundational steppingstones to the Grizzlies taking the Western Conference by storm has been Ja Morant’s approach<\/a>. The Grizzlies’ success hasn’t been contingent on Morant’s usage. By statistical measures, you’d suggest he’s plateauing as a star player. Contrary to belief his impact in multiple facets has been conducive to the Grizzlies winning ball games. All in all, Morant is averaging 20.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 7.4 assists. He’s averaging a career-best in box-plus-minus<\/a>. Morant is also posting the best net rating<\/a>\u00a0of any Grizzlies player who’s logged at least 500 minutes this season. Both those metrics are superior to his marks in 2022-23 where he was named a Western Conference All-Star and finished 12th in MVP voting.<\/p>\n

If there’s any indication regarding Morant’s significant maturation on the floor, this season would be it. Not to mention there’s no simple equivalent asset for asset swapping in a Ja Morant trade. Even if there was sufficient evidence that would suggest the transaction would be something to monitor the Grizzlies aren’t in dire need of strengthening a rotation that leads the league in bench scoring. Morant hasn’t only been a menacing force on the offensive end, but he’s been playing an inspiring level of defense as well. The former Racers great is holding his opponents to 44.1 FG%<\/a> shooting this season. For comparison that’s superior to OG Anunoby<\/a>, Fred VanVleet<\/a>, Davion Mitchell<\/a>, Jalen Suggs<\/a>, and Dillon Brooks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Fewest Points Per Possession Given Up Guarding ISOs In The 2024-25 NBA Regular Season (Min. 15 Total ISO Possessions Guarded) :<\/p>\n

1. Ja Morant \u2014 0.32
\n2. LeBron James \u2014 0.35
\n3. Ben Simmons \u2014 0.39
\n4. Day\u2019Ron Sharpe \u2014 0.41
\n5. Dalano Banton \u2014 0.47
\n6. Ja\u2019Kobe Walter \u2014\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/3ErykhjGrr<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Wn3wFWEr8M<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Stat Defender (@statdefender) February 18, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Kleiman’s Trust<\/h3>\n

A Ja Morant trade wouldn’t just send social media threads into a whirlwind. It would further complicate the overall puzzle-solving of the roster. An unnecessary transaction like that would send shockwaves across the Memphis sports culture. Very rarely do you have the opportunity to draft a generational talent, let alone at the point guard position. Morant doesn’t just jump off your flat screen but he also leaps into children’s dreams of what they aspire to be when they step foot on the hardwood one day. When the Kevin Durant<\/a> rumors<\/a> started swirling around the trade deadline, Phoenix Suns executive James Jones didn’t urgently come forward to disclaim the buzz. Words were most likely exchanged in private to reassure Durant’s future in the Valley but there’s something about the fashion Kleiman exemplified with his franchise player. It’s one valuable method on how to protect your players’ insecurities.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prominent NBA writer\/journalist Howard Beck of\u00a0The Ringer recently hopped on an episode of\u00a0Real Ones\u00a0with co-hosts Raja Bell and Logan Murdock. Part of Beck’s objective as an everyday NBA journalist is to gauge the trade market, especially in the offseason. During the discussion, Beck reported about an executive insisting on keeping a close eye on franchise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5331,"featured_media":124850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,1608,62],"tags":[3127,1822,3840],"class_list":["post-124595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grizzlies","category-basketball","category-nba","tag-desmond-bane","tag-ja-morant","tag-taylor-jenkins"],"modified_by":"Zach Kircher","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124595"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124851,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124595\/revisions\/124851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}