A Miami Heat Ja Morant trade has been rumored ever since Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the Memphis Grizzlies were listening to offers on him.
It makes sense, since the Heat have been floundering recently, and they could definitely use a point guard, with all due respect to Davion Mitchell. The front office can talk themselves into bringing a star-level talent to Miami, but is he worth the gamble with his on and off the court play?
Charania also mentioned on Tuesday that the Heat, Sacramento Kings, and other teams have a “level of interest” in Morant.
According to Rachel Nichols of Fox Sports, Morant is reportedly interested in Miami, but should they be interested in him?
On the court, Morant is in the midst of one of the worst shooting seasons in the league, according to Kirk Goldsberry of The Ringer.
At this very moment, he is a one-level scorer, and that’s solely at the rim, where he’s also decreased his efficiency recently.
Morant is shooting 40% from the field this season, has an abhorrent 20.8% 3-point percentage, and also has a career low 50.6% true shooting percentage. Overall, he’s averaging 19, 3, and 7 in only 18 games, as he’s dealt with calf and ankle injuries.
Morant’s also in the third year of a five-year $197 million contract, including $39.4 million this season, $42.1 million next season, and 44.8 million the season after that. That’s a ton of money for a player who physically cannot shoot the basketball currently, is incredibly inefficient, and also has some off-the-court concerns.
Morant was suspended for eight games in March of 2023 after a live video surfaced of him holding a handgun in a nightclub.
Unfortunately, he didn’t learn his lesson, as he showed a firearm on Instagram Live in May of 2023 and was suspended for 25 games. It got so bad that Morant had to sit down with commissioner Adam Silver, and the NBA basically forced him to seek counseling.
Morant was also fined $75,000 in May of 2023 for his finger gun celebration. In 2025, he was also suspended one game for conduct detrimental after getting into it with head coach Tuomas Iisalo.
With Morant’s play, especially this season, his value has never been as low as it currently is. This is someone who is a two-time All-Star, one-time All-NBA, Rookie of the Year, and Most Improved Player recipient. This is a player who instantly becomes the best playmaker on the team and puts pressure on the rim at a consistent level.
Memphis and Tennessee as a whole love Morant, but it seems like a change of scenery is needed.
This is where a team like Miami could fit in, as they would have an elite structure with one of the league’s best coaches in Erik Spoelstra.
Morant would be able to help further unlock young center Kel’el Ware with the lobs that would go on between the two of them, and it would also help out Bam Adebayo. This would be absolutely hysterical, as Morant hit a game-winner over Ware last season and called him a “pigeon” in the postgame interview.
Mitchell has been good this season as their starting point guard, but having him in a reserve role would be even better.
The Heat have been looking for a star point guard for a while. They tried a couple of years ago with Kyle Lowry, and that didn’t really work out.
Ideally, the trade package would have to involve one of their guards, like Tyler Herro, and at most, they would be sending back a single first-round pick. I could also see Miami basically forcing Memphis to take back Terry Rozier’s $26.6 million salary if deemed tradable.
In terms of young players that the Grizzlies reportedly have interest in getting back, Kasparas Jakucionis would make sense, since they would need a guard back in this situation.
In this scenario, the Heat’s starting five would be Morant, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Bam Adebayo, and Kel’el Ware. I have spacing concerns with that lineup, but I’ve seen crazier things happen.
Morant is an extremely polarizing player; he’s three years removed from being an All-Star, and he’s only 26 years old.
The Heat are 22nd in offensive rating, extremely mediocre at 20-19, and need to shake things up with a major move. Earlier in the season, the offense looked great, but they’ve cooled off considerably in their fast-paced and limited screens offense.
You don’t have to overpay, don’t pay the price for sky-high price for someone who hasn’t reached those heights in a couple of years and is also injury prone.
The cost for such a talented player is going to be relatively low, and if they think that they can fix Morant, then why not?
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter here. Check out Stadium Rant Original shows on our Youtube channel and subscribe! Give our socials Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok a follow for more great content!
