The Memphis Grizzlies face a difficult summer with Ja Morant, but a recent Bleacher Report trade proposal for Jalen Green asks for too much. Here is why Memphis cannot afford to include Jaylen Wells in any Morant deal.
The Memphis Grizzlies are likely to trade Ja Morant this summer. Fans should temper their expectations.
They will not get a robust return. Morant is a distressed asset. We've covered it at length here at Grizzlies Roundtable. His inability to stay on the floor - for a variety of reasons - has hurt his value, both to the Grizzlies and on the open market.
So, Memphis shouldn't expect a haul for Morant. All they can do is avoid making any moves that put them at a disadvantage.
A recent trade proposal from Greg Swartz at Bleacher Report arguably has them doing exactly that.
Grizzlies give up key role player in new proposal
Let's look at the details.
Memphis Grizzlies receive:
Jalen Green
Phoenix Suns receive:
Ja Morant
Jaylen Wells
If you had a time machine - well, you'd find better uses than what's about to be proposed, but stick with me here.
If you had a time machine, and you could go back two years and show someone this proposal, and you could tell them Wells was the most valuable piece in it, they would be shocked.
Yet, here we are. Enough ink has been spilled in these pages about Morant's foibles. Let's talk about Green. He just finished his fifth NBA season, in which he averaged 17.8 points and 2.8 assists per game with a 51.6 True Shooting % (TS%) and a -1.1 Box Plus/Minus (BPM).
In fairness, he played just 32 games. Durability had not been an issue for Green during his first four seasons with the Houston Rockets. Yet, inefficiency and general lack of impact had been. In five years, Green has not been able to slay those demons.
Still, in fairness to Swartz, he does likely have more value on the open market than Morant right now. So, in terms of pure market value, attaching Wells to Morant makes sense here:
But it's not something the Grizzlies should do.
Grizzlies should keep Jaylen Wells
Morant for Green straight up? That would make sense for Memphis. Morant and three second-round picks for Green? Memphis should consider it.
They should not be in the habit of shedding a valuable player like Wells. Morant is a player who's flashed MVP potential in the past. No matter how dramatically his value has dropped, the Grizzlies should treat him like a neutral-to-slightly negative trade asset.
If Phoenix is truly curious about a Morant/Booker backcourt, they shouldn't need Wells. They have no reason to be particularly attached to Green, or any reason to assume he can net them a valuable role player like Wells in any other scenario. If they're secretly doing this deal for Wells, well (pun intended), the Grizzlies should place the same value on their incumbent wing.
Nobody's giving the deal an F here. It makes enough sense in terms of market value, and it's a good deal for the Suns. It will get a passing grade, but that shouldn't stop the Grizzlies from passing (pun intended again) on the proposal.
Grade: B