Grizzlies Face $126M Problem After Another Ja Morant Suspension

The Grizzlies and Ja Morant are facing another dilemma. 

Memphis suspended their star guard for one game for “conduct detrimental to the team.” According to ESPN, Grizzlies head coach Tuomas Iisalo called out Morant’s leadership and effort in the locker room following a loss Friday to the Lakers, and the team’s star responded in a way that coaching staff “deemed inappropriate and dismissive.”

Morant was asked by reporters after the game about what he thought went wrong in the defeat, and he deferred to the coaching staff multiple times.

“According to them, probably don’t play me. That’s what basically the message was,” Morant said. 

The guard finished with eight points on 14 shots, his lowest scoring total of the season. He served his suspension Sunday, the same day the Grizzlies lost to the Raptors.

This suspension isn’t the first time the Grizzlies have faced issues with their franchise cornerstone.

Morant, 26, was issued an eight-game suspension by the NBA in March 2023 after brandishing a firearm during an Instagram Live video. He was dealt a 25-game suspension at the beginning of the 2023–24 season after a second similar offense.

Last season, Morant was fined $75,000 for making finger-gun gestures, even after the league initially issued him a warning about making such gestures. That fine came just a week after the team shockingly fired head coach Taylor Jenkins, the only coach Morant’s ever played under, with less than a month left in the season. 

There were no reports that Morant wanted the Grizzlies to move on from Jenkins, though he had expressed frustration with his role in the offense throughout last season. “This decision was mine and mine only,” Grizzlies GM Zach Kleiman said in March. 

ESPN’s Shams Charania said Sunday on SportsCenter that Morant and the Grizzlies are hoping to “move on” after the suspension, but teams are “monitoring” the situation in Memphis.

 A trade would be a signal of a new direction for the Grizzlies, who, despite trading guard Desmond Bane to the Magic in the offseason, stuck with Morant and All-Star forward Jaren Jackson Jr. 

However, if the Grizzlies decide to trade Morant, finding a trade partner is itself a complicated issue. As most of the league is penny pinching to avoid the second apron, Memphis would need to find a partner to take on the final three years of Morant’s max deal with about $126.5 million remaining (the original deal was five years, $197.2 million).

They would also need to find a team in need of a starting point guard, and there are only few contenders now that have a hole at the point guard spot that could offer Memphis a viable return.

The Rockets, who acquired 37-year-old Kevin Durant in the summer, could be the ideal partner, especially after the team lost veteran Fred VanVleet to injury for this season. The Timberwolves could also be an option with former Grizzlies star Mike Conley looking like he may be on his last legs.