According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Memphis Grizzlies are entertaining offers for star point guard Ja Morant. With that news, the Minnesota Timberwolves should be on the phones right now. It’s not a perfect fit, but the defensive infrastructure in Minnesota may be perfectly suited to host Morant.
Placing Morant next to Edwards in the backcourt would be a very fun pairing, and his offensive organization could be exactly what the Wolves need at the point guard spot. They need a boost at that position, and Morant could be that (and then some). That said, a trade would be somewhat tricky to concoct.
But what would it look like?
The Wolves need to consider a Ja Morant trade
Well, Charania noted that the Grizzlies would like to get back draft capital and young players in a potential Morant trade. Or at least, that will be their priority.
Though the Wolves don’t have a ton of draft capital to throw at the Grizzlies, they do have some alternative routes they could take in a potential trade.
Obviously, throwing in young players wouldn’t be too big a problem, as guys like Rob Dillingham, Joan Beringer, or Jaylen Clark could fill that void. However, bringing a third team into the mix could help them add draft capital as well.
Minnesota would have to trade at least one of Naz Reid, Julius Randle, or Jalen McDaniels in a deal. Of those guys, Reid probably has the most trade value, unless a team doesn’t want to take on his contract.
One idea could be to rope the Golden State Warriors into a trade. They could send Jonathan Kuminga and a first (or a couple of seconds) to the Grizzlies, who would also receive Mike Conley, Rob Dillingham, and another minimum salary from Minnesota.
The Wolves would send Reid to the Warriors, draft capital to the Grizzlies, and Morant would head to Minnesota.
A deal like that, even if the Warriors aren’t the third team, would make sense, especially if the Grizzlies aren’t interested in Reid’s long-term salary.
Obviously, trading Reid, Conley, Dillingham, another salary, and picks is a lot. Especially considering all of the injury issues that Morant has dealt with.
But the upside of adding Morant to the Wolves’ roster could be worth the risk.
Perhaps the Wolves would rather find a way to trade Randle, but he does so much for them that a Morant deal would likely require them to simply bite the bullet and trade Reid.
The combination of Morant’s talent and the defensive fit of the Wolves roster is just too good for Minnesota to pass up on.