The Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings swap All-Stars in this blockbuster NBA trade idea.
Earlier this week, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reported that Memphis Grizzlies star point guard Ja Morant could be available for trade this offseason after a disappointing season for the Grizzlies. Memphis was just swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder, while Morant was relegated to street clothes after taking a hard fall in game 3.
Between Morant’s injuries and off-court issues, it’s not surprising to hear him come up in trade discussions.
There is no way of knowing if Morant will be traded this offseason, but whenever a young star is brought up in conversations, it’s worth thinking about where he could go.
One spot that has been brought up is the Sacramento Kings, as NBA insider Brett Siegel reported that they could look at both Ja Morant and Trae Young deals this offseason. These talks were likely amplified by new general manager Scott Perry talking about the need for a point guard in Sacramento.
The next question is, what would a Morant-to-Sacramento trade look like?
Sacramento Kings receive: Ja Morant
Memphis Grizzlies receive: Domantas Sabonis
For Memphis, this trade actually makes a ton of sense. Morant is an incredible player, but he’s had his issues in Memphis, and Scottie Pippen Jr. has emerged as a solid replacement when Ja has missed time.
By swapping Sabonis for Morant, Memphis gets the perfect center to pair with Jaren Jackson Jr. and an offensive hub that can make life a lot easier for Desmond Bane and the rest of Memphis’ shooters. A starting lineup of Pippen, Bane, Sabonis, JJJ, and Santi Aldama could be pretty enticing for Memphis.
Sabonis is great at everything that Jaren Jackson Jr. struggles with and vice versa. One area that isn’t as obvious as the passing and rebounding is interior scoring. JJJ is excellent on the perimeter for a player his size, but isn’t as efficient within five feet as he should be.
Sabonis, however, is excellent as an interior scorer, shooting nearly 70% on shots less than five feet away from the hoop, while JJJ shoots just 62%.
For Sacramento, getting Morant for Sabonis would be a huge win. First, the Kings open up a bit of cap space and get younger with Morant, who is three years younger than Sabonis. Second, the Kings get a point guard who can initiate their offense, break down defenses off the dribble, and get to the line.
Without Fox, Sacramento struggled to penetrate tough defenses, and their spacing suffered because of it. Ranking sixth in drives per game and eighth in points off drives, Morant would provide some much-needed aggression to Sacramento’s offense.
Morant also rarely turns the ball over off drives, ranking third in the NBA behind Paolo Banchero and TJ McConnell in turnover percentage off drives among players with 10+ drives per game. Morant is also an excellent passer, averaging at least 7.3 assists per game every season of his career, which would easily be number one on the Kings this season.
Morant is an excellent finisher around the rim when he does get into the paint, converting nearly 63% of his restricted area attempts.
The negatives with Morant are his injury history, off-court issues, and defense. I won’t dive too much into the off-court items because it seems that Morant has learned from his mistakes and hasn’t caused any problems this season, besides a few controversial on-court celebrations.
While Morant hasn’t dealt with many non-contact injuries that generally worry NBA teams, he has never played more than 67 games in a season and has missed 103 out of 164 possible games in the past two seasons. Along with his durability question marks, Ja’s stature limits his ceiling defensively.
To be fair to Morant, he’s definitely improved his defense and defended the three very well this year, with opponents shooting 10.2% worse than expected. Luckily for Morant, Sacramento’s perimeter defense has been abysmal for a while, and even though he isn’t great on that end, he would likely be a positive on that end in comparison.
Again, there’s no promise that Morant or Sabonis will be traded, but if this trade does materialize for Sacramento, they should jump on it. While trading Domas shouldn’t excite anyone, building around Ja would be much easier than building around Sabonis. The Kings would need to make more moves for better shooters, but this would be a huge step in turning the team into a contender after two years (or 20) of disappointment.