The entire NBA world is watching the situation in Memphis with Ja Morant degrade. While there has been some talk of the Toronto Raptors getting involved in a trade, how this situation plays out will impact the franchise one way or the other - perhaps in ways fans aren't even expecting.
The Memphis Grizzlies and Ja Morant have a relationship that has gone from fraying at the edges to tearing right down the middle. Morant is giving less than full effort in games, he is publicly feuding with his head coach, and the team has taken a real step in suspending him for his conduct. The marriage of franchise and star is on the ropes.
It would not take much of a spark to set the entire thing ablaze. Perhaps another dust-up between Morant and head coach Tuomas Iisalo leads to Morant demanding out; perhaps another lackluster effort in a game drives the front office to wash their hands of Morant. Either way, Morant could very well hit the trade market any day now.
Ja Morant is the most difficult type of player in the NBA to evaluate. He is a former star who still maintains the demeanor and the Q-Rating of a superstar but whose play has dropped off. Given that he has battled numerous injuries over the past few years, it's unclear if his lower level of play reflects a new baseline, or if he can get back to where he was as he puts distance between himself and those injuries.
The Toronto Raptors will be involved one way or the other
The Toronto Raptors are a franchise that likes to check the price on star trades; they have looked into trading for Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo in recent years, and they did ultimately pull of a deal to add Brandon Ingram at last year's Trade Deadline. It's natural for their name to come up as a potential trade suitor for Ja Morant.
On the one hand, buying low on a palyer as talented as Morant is an intriguing proposition. On the other, his lack of defensive impact and his poor shooting would be terrible fits with the roster that the Raptors have assembled. Surely the front office will realize that well before making a formal trade offer for Morant.
Yet even if Toronto waves goodbye to the possibility of trading for Morant, this situation will impact them no matter how it is resolved. They currently have an extremely expensive team that hasn't taken the next step to being a clear Eastern Conference playoff team. One of the options to change their fate is to move on from Immanuel Quickley, who hasn't found his stride in Toronto and is on a lucrative contract the Raptors inexplicably handed him in restricted free agency.
Quickley is younger than Morant and is a much better shooter and defender. He doesn't have the star power, certainly, and he is overpaid on his current deal, but he would fit better with more teams than Morant would. He has experience playing both on-ball and off-ball, and a team that has other ball handlers could fill a need at point guard with Quickley.
If Morant stays put, that improves the market of options for a Quickley trade. Teams evaluating a trade for Morant could conclude they need a player like Quickley, thus opening up potential suitors.
On the other hand, if Ja Morant is traded and one point guard suitor closes up, that could be enough to cool a limited market for Quickley and lead them to pivot and trade someone else, such as RJ Barrett -- a Toronto native who is playing extremely well but also may not be part of the next great Raptors team.
Toronto should not trade for Ja Morant. Yet as they put together their next steps as a franchise, whatever happens with the Morant situation will have shockwaves around the league and alter or determine what the Raptors do next.
Deal or no deal? That's still to be seen.