Following Trae Young's move to the Washington Wizards, the next big domino to fall on the NBA's trade market may well be Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant.
The Grizzlies are open to dealing Morant in advance of the Feb. 5 trade deadline, but Memphis is aware that finding a trade partner will be difficult. Injuries and suspensions have limited Morant to 77 games since the start of the 2023-24 season.
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With Morant's value at its lowest point in his seven-year NBA career, The Athletic's John Hollinger writes that the guard-needy Minnesota Timberwolves could step up as a suitor.
However, even if the Wolves envision a Morant-Anthony Edwards lighting up the Western Conference, a trade may be more challenging to pull off for Minnesota than others. In short: they have to clear cap space to assume the rest of Morant's contract.
"It’s hard to put together a cap-compliant trade that lets them take in Morant’s $39 million salary while staying below the second apron," Hollinger wrote of Minnesota's predicament. "They would likely need to trade Naz Reid and at least three other players, and they don’t have the depth to withstand Morant only playing half the schedule."
That said, Memphis' desire to start fresh and the savvy of Minnesota president of basketball operations Tim Connelly means nothing can be ruled out just yet as it pertains to Morant's future.