3 Players Grizzlies Should Trade After Devastating Ja Morant News
After finally making it back from his 25 game suspension, and dominating like he hadn’t missed a beat, Ja Morant has suffered a devastating end to his season. Morant will undergo season-ending surgery for a labrum tear in his shoulder. The injury occurred during a training session on Saturday.
BREAKING: Ja Morant is out for the rest of the season due to a labrum tear pic.twitter.com/Pd1cH3ROkm
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) January 9, 2024
The Memphis Grizzlies had righted the ship since Morant’s return from suspension, going 6-3 with the mercurial guard in the lineup, after struggling to a 7-20 mark without him..
Morant was averaging 25 points, eight assists and 5.6 rebounds, back to the superstar status he left behind after his second gun incident after last season led to his suspension.
Marcus Smart will now return to being the lead guard from here on out, but it's time for the Grizzlies to consider shipping out some assets to reset the team for next season, as their playoff hopes are now dashed.
Three trade assets they can move:
Luke Kennard
Teams were already inquiring about Kennard's availability earlier this season, now, in the final guaranteed year of his contract ($14M club option for next year), the three-point shooter makes for an attractive trade piece. His numbers are down a bit from his career marks, averaging 8.2 points, but in 21 minutes a night, he's still shooting the lights out from long range, at just a tick under 40%.
John Konchar
The backup swingman has a very affordable three-year extension kicking in next season at just $6M per year, and has been an effective three-point shooter off the bench in the past, despite his off year this season on a struggling Grizzlies team. Earlier in the season, it was reported that the Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors, and Los Angeles Lakers were monitoring him for a potential trade.
Derrick Rose
He was brought in, essentially, to be a mentor for Morant, but those job responsibilities are done for the year. The 35-year-old can still provide some decent backup minutes at the point for a contender looking for a veteran, leadership presence going into the playoffs.
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