The Grizzlies star has publicly stated that he's unhappy with his current setup in Memphis.
This is the second straight day I’m writing about a hypothetical trade for the Boston Celtics.
But when you come into a season with expectations of possibly being a top-five, and then sit with a 6-7 record through the first 16% of 2025-26, these types of conversations are going to pop up.
The one I’m looking to discuss today actually feels worthy of giving the time of day to, whereas the one I wrote about yesterday felt more like a venting session for me against the trade machine warriors living among us on the interwebs.
Plus, if Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame writer Bob Ryan is willing to give a basketball-take any oxygen, I’m always going to give that a listen.
Here’s what he said on his “Bob Ryan and Jeff Goodman NBA Podcast” for CLNS Media, with former Celtics studio host Gary Tanguay sitting in for Goodman:
Gary Tanguay: “Could [Ja Morant] play with Tatum?”
Bob Ryan: “Until you put him in a different circumstance, we won't know. You know that someone - I would think someone will look out there and say, ‘I can manage this guy.’ In all sports, people look around and say, ‘Well, let me have a shot at him.’ And I think there'll be people that would want to have a shot at this guy with this raw talent.”
GT: “I'm just saying - look, [Jaylen] Brown is making a ton of money, so I don't know. I don't think the numbers would work. I don't know if Memphis would want to take on that salary. But just from a discussion - if you swapped out Jaylen Brown for Ja Morant, I'm just talking about ability, how would that work? I'll tell you what, Bob - it's risky as hell. However, if you had Morant and Tatum on the same team, and Morant was buying in -”
BR: “Well, we went that route with Kyrie [Irving] remember? And that didn't work out, but that was Kyrie. And once again, is he as troubled or as confused? Whatever word you want to use to describe what Kyrie was then - which, apparently, he's kind of looked in the mirror, by the way, because not playing right now. But will Morant look in the mirror and say, ‘You know, maybe some of this is not the fact that I'm playing for a Fin, whose circumstance I don't like. Maybe it's something that I ought to be doing better.’
“Is he capable of that introspection? And he’d have to be for somebody to benefit from taking on him anyway. It's interesting. But we were actually having the discussion, folks, two-three years ago, roughly, about if he could become the new face of the league. That's how good he was, that's how exciting a player he was. He was the guy, and he's still in his prime. He's 27 - this is prime, right now. He's got to make a decision which way he's going to go. So it bears watching when he returns…”
Not to be the fun police on NBA trades, but I don’t think Morant would fit well with Tatum AT ALL.
Morant has never been on a team where he’s had to be deferential in any way to anyone else on offense. It’s always been the Ja Show. And when it’s right for him, it’s among the most exciting basketball you will see in the league. But as Ryan mentioned, it’s been a while since it’s been right.
He’s publicly talking about how unhappy he is with the current situation in Memphis. So maybe a change in scenery immediately comes with a willingness to play a new style. And if this hypothetical move of Jaylen Brown-for-Ja Morant deal were to go down, Morant would obviously be the leading man for the remainder of this season.
But how’s that going to look when Tatum is back? Because make no mistake about it - when he’s back, he’s immediately option No. 1 again, no questions asked. There’s a reason why the guy is a perennial All-NBA selection. Heck, we saw him lead a team to a title as the true No. 1. Unless Morant came over and was playing at an MVP-level, Tatum would immediately be getting his team back.
I, personally, don’t think he would handle it well. Off the court issues aside, I don’t think bringing in a heliocentric player like Morant would work for a guy like Tatum, ball-stopper on offense in his own right.
Ja Morant? Pass.
Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.