The Toronto Raptors are hunting for a buy-low star on the trade market this season. The latest name to be connected to the team is Ja Morant, a radioactive washed-up star that the team should avoid at all costs. Trading for him would be a disaster.
The idea that the Raptors want to trade for a star is neither a surprise nor a problem in its own right. They have long been in the mix on most stars that hit the market; few big-name free agents are going to sign outright with the Raptors, so the trade market is their best bet to add an established player.
At 25-17, the Raptors are currently in strong position to make the playoffs. Scottie Barnes has continued to grow as a player and is leading the way as a near-certain All-Star. Yet no one in the building or outside believes the Raptors can win a title as currently constructed.
That's why trading for a star-level player makes sense; they have good-not-great starters around Barnes and inexpensive, underrated bench pieces. Making a consolidation trade for a star and then having bench pieces step up the totem pole makes a lot of sense.
The problem is that the Raptors aren't merely looking into ceiling-raising stars; they are looking at buy-low opportunities for former stars. Trading for Anthony Davis as he continues to battle injuries; trading for Domantas Sabonis as the Kings face the music and prepare to tear it all down.
Trading for Ja Morant would be a disaster
The worst of them all is Ja Morant. The mercurial Memphis Grizzlies point guard is without question a talented player, and his reputation matches that of a star player. His play on the court, however, has taken a steep turn away from winning basketball.
In the 18 games he has played this season, Ja Morant is averaging 19 points per game -- the lowest since his rookie season -- and shooting an absolutely frigid 40.1 percent from the field. That includes making just 20.8 percent from 3-point range.
That 20.8 percent number likely seems bad, but some context will highlight how truly awful it is. Of all the players in the NBA who are shooting at least four 3-pointers per game, Morant's 20.8 percent is by far the worst in the league. And not just for this season: of every player in the history of the NBA who has shot at least four 3-pointers per game, Ja Morant ranks dead last. In NBA history!
What do the Toronto Raptors need? They need a star offensive player who can space the court and generate offense on and off the ball. Morant's complete lack of shooting ability means he has to have the ball in his hands to be effective, and turning Barnes into an off-ball screen setter is not the path to an elite offense.
Now that we've covered that Morant's best skill is his scoring and he's not particularly good at that anymore, it should be noted that he is a terrible defensive player, that he has a prolific injury history and a track record of fighting with head coaches. Add in that he has been suspended multiple times by both his team and the NBA itself for his conduct, and you get a player that no team should want around.
He also makes an average of $42 million over the next three seasons.
Perhaps the Grizzlies will trade Morant and take back one of the Raptors' bad contracts, the starting point for Toronto making a big swing. When you factor in that Morant's deal would immediately be a bad contract in its own right, on top of all of the many ways he is a terrible fit with this roster, a deal should be dead on arrival.
Raptors fans will just have to wait and see whether the front office is going to make a colossal mistake.