Ja Morant trade rumors: Is Giannis Antetokounmpo part of the reason the Morant market is so hot?

ballervisions 2026年1月20日

No player generates more trade talk than Ja Morant, but is it all smoke and no real fire? Here are the latest Morant trade rumors.

Morant says he wants to stay

After missing six games with a calf strain, Morant returned to the court in London on Sunday, scoring 24 points and 13 assists as Memphis beat Orlando in NBA Europe. After the game, Marc Stein asked Morant if he wanted to stay with the Grizzlies, and it was clear that he did.

“I have a [Grizzlies] sign [tattooed] on my back, so that should tell you exactly where I want to be… If anyone in here doesn’t know, I’m a very honest man.”

What Morant wants may not matter. However, the Grizzlies may have no choice but to keep him unless they want pennies on the dollar.

Is Antetokounmpo hurting the Morant market?

Two things we’ve heard consistently this season from league sources and reported here on NBC Sports: 1) There isn’t much of a trade market for Morant; 2) The Milwaukee Bucks will not trade Giannis Antetokounmpo during the offseason unless they want to – and he said he would never do that.

Despite all that, the possibility of Antetokounmpo being available for a trade this summer would be a threat to Morant’s market right now.

Take the Miami Heat, one of Morant’s rumored athletes. Memphis is looking for a young player and again a first round pick in any deal for Morant. Miami doesn’t want to get into trouble if it means giving up the player it needs to chase Antetokounmpo this summer, reports Marc Stein at The Stein Line.

“One well-placed league source insisted to me that the Miami Heat should be scratched as a suitor for Ja Morant – even if terms allow – if the move jeopardizes the upcoming trade for Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo.”

To be clear, other factors have kept Morant’s market tight: Morant’s long injury history (he hasn’t played more than six games in a row in nearly three years), his declining stats, and the fact that he’s guaranteed $87 million for each of the two seasons after this one. But Antetokounmpo is part of the mix, too.

The rubber will hit the road this summer with Antetokounmpo when the Buckeyes could offer him another big contract extension. A few times before, in this situation, Antetokounmpo used the threat of leaving as a resource, forcing the Bucks to make a big improvement (signing Jrue Holiday, trading for Damian Lillard), and then signed an extension. This summer, teams are unsure if Antetokounmpo will sign that deal, and Milwaukee will be forced to trade him or risk losing him for nothing.

Everything that has teams thinking beyond this trade deadline, something Zach Lowe discussed the NBA on Primeclearly mentions the Heat along with the Hawks, Warriors, and Lakers.

“[Those teams are] considering holding onto his assets to pursue Giannis Antetokounmpo now or in the summer… If he doesn’t take that extension, that’s tantamount to asking for a trade… Right now, the Bucks are just 5-5 since returning from injury. They are beaten every second that you get off the bench while resting. They are in 11th place in Mpumalanga.”

It’s interesting that teams replacing Antetokounmpo would leave the Bucks as Morant’s hardest hitter — Milwaukee will add him at the deadline, somehow.

To express what Bucks fans are whining about on their phones/computers right now, none of this means Milwaukee will trade Antetokounmpo this summer. He could sign an extension and stay, just like he always does in this position. What is true is that some teams are preparing for the possibility that Antetokounmpo will be available, and they will not stop choosing even Morant’s young player, who may be part of the blockbuster this summer.

Memphis fans love Morant

Another consideration for the Grizzlies – trading Morant would not go well in Memphis.

Moving on from Morant “wouldn’t be very attractive” to Memphis, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said on the Hoop Collective Podcast. While less painful, this has a Doncic-to-the-Lakers vibe, in that the front office would need a plan in place to deal with what could be a public backlash, where Morant is favored.

Jaren Jackson Jr. he is not looking to leave

The wishful thinking is true, at least according to league sources that NBC Sports spoke to, but there are still teams that believe Memphis wants to blow things up and trade their most valuable player, center Jaren Jackson Jr.

JJJ is not looking to go anywhere, he just wants to know the plan, reports ESPN’s MacMahon on the Hoop Collective Podcast.

“I’ve done a little research on Jaren Jackson Jr.’s situation, and my understanding is that he doesn’t want to come out. There have been people in the league who have suggested that, and I’ve been told that’s not really true. He just wants to understand what the plan is.”

Maybe the Grizzlies finally decide to tear it down and rebuild from the ground up, but that doesn’t happen at the February trade deadline.