Several of the stars who were traded ahead of this month’s deadline – including Jimmy Butler, Zach LaVine, and Brandon Ingram – were on the block for a while, while others – such as Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis, and De’Aaron Fox – were either total surprises or (as in Fox’s case) weren’t necessarily expected to be on the move this soon.
So which stars might emerge as new trade candidates ahead of the 2025 offseason? Howard Beck of The Ringer said during a live episode of The Real Ones podcast over the weekend that one executive he spoke to about that subject offered up an interesting prediction.
“I’m constantly checking in with executives around (the) trade deadline about what we saw, what we didn’t see, what’s next,” Beck said (Twitter audio link). “And in this league, you are always, always, always on the lookout for who’s the next wave of stars that are going to get dealt, right? … And somebody out of the blue said, ‘Keep an eye on Ja [Morant] this summer.’
“… I’m not saying it’s going to happen. I’m not saying it should happen. I’m just saying it’s one of those things I’m just kind of keeping an eye on if they were to flame out (of the playoffs) early.”
At this point, the idea that Morant will emerge as a trade candidate seems more like wishful thinking on the part of an opposing executive than something likely to actually happen. The Grizzlies‘ star point guard is just 25 years old, is still under contract in Memphis for three more years beyond this season, and has stayed out of trouble off the court since being suspended twice in 2023 for wielding a gun in social media videos.
Still, in the wake of Dallas’ decision to deal Doncic, team executives will likely be loath to assume that any rival star is entirely untouchable.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- The Mavericks haven’t shared an official update on Dwight Powell‘s health for over a week, but Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (Twitter link) hears that the big man has been doing full workouts during the All-Star break. Powell, who has been out since January 17 due to a right hip strain, doesn’t typically play a significant role for the Mavs, but the team would love to have him available with frontcourt regulars Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford, and Anthony Davis all sidelined due to injuries of their own.
- Michael C. Wright of ESPN takes a behind-the-scenes look at Victor Wembanyama‘s first All-Star appearance, noting that the Spurs flew their massage therapist, physical therapist, and performance coach to San Francisco to run the big man through his usual pregame routine, since he wanted to win every event he was involved in. That included Saturday’s skills challenge, in which Wembanyama and teammate Chris Paul attempted to exploit a loophole and were ultimately disqualified. “I don’t regret it,” the first-time All-Star said of the scheme to intentionally miss their required shot attempts as quickly as possible. “I thought it was a good idea.”
- After a busy All-Star weekend, first-year Spurs guard Stephon Castle spoke to Marc J. Spears of Andscape about his experience in San Francisco, what he has learned from Paul, and what it’s like to play with Wembanyama, among other topics. Castle also expressed optimism about his ability to play alongside new San Antonio point guard De’Aaron Fox going forward. “I love playing with D-Fox,” the rookie told Spears. “He plays super-fast. That is how I like to play. Super unselfish. He can go get a bucket whenever you need him to. Yeah, he’s super cool and a great guy off the court, too.”
If Nico was on the Grizzlies, he would absolutely trade Ja in a heartbeat lol
Luke, IMO, it would be surprising if Memphis didn’t listen to offers for Ja this summer.
First, there isn’t enough money to go around for small- market Memphis. The’ll be looking to sign Jackson, whose contract is up next summer, to a max deal as soon as possible. They are already paying Bane big $. Memphis isn’t a rich enough franchise to pay three guys the max. The Grizz have some other guys, like Aldana, who also need to get paid. This summer would be the right time to trade Ja, assuming they prefer to keep both Bane and Jackson.
Second, Ja’s injuries have already reduced him to much less than past seasons. He’s missing 35% of his games, his minutes per game are down significantly, and so is his scoring. He’s no longer playing at a superstar level. One more injury, and he’ll be very hard to deal.
You never know, but it would surprise me.
The Grizzlies are actually pretty well positioned to pay Morant, Jackson, and Bane for the foreseeable future because they have so many rotation-caliber players (Scotty Pippen, GG Jackson, Jaylen Wells, Vince Williams, etc.) on minimum-salary deals through 2027 or 2028. And Morant/Bane are on the “mini” max (25%) for a few more years, so paying those three guys isn’t nearly as onerous as, say, the Suns paying the 35% max to three players.
Aldama is also the only role player who needs to be paid this summer (Bagley, Davis, and Kennard are Memphis’ only other FAs) and I doubt he’ll break the bank.
It’s true that Morant hasn’t quite looked like his old self this season, but I think that’s partly by design — the Grizzlies are being more careful than ever with his minutes, and Jackson handles more of the scoring load than he did a couple years ago (Bane’s scoring is also down).