Kings Predicted to Target Ja Morant After Desmond Bane Trade

The Grizzlies acquired four unprotected first-round picks in exchange for Desmond Bane, setting them up for a soft rebuild if they truly wanted to explore that route. Even before Bane was traded, many people were wondering what the Grizzlies' plan with Morant was, and now his future in Memphis is even less clear.

If the Grizzlies do look to trade Morant for their next big deal, where could he end up?

Bleacher Report's Timothy Rapp labeled the Sacramento Kings as a top landing spot for Morant if the Grizzlies do put him on the trade block.

Of course, the Kings are possibly the team in the NBA most desperate for a point guard, and there are not many point guards available who are better than Ja Morant. The 25-year-old has had unfortunate injury luck recently, but when healthy, is still one of the best guards in the league. This season, Morant averaged 23.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 7.3 assists per game.

"The Sacramento Kings find themselves in the NBA's version of purgatory—decent enough to potentially compete for a Play-In Tournament berth each season, but not anywhere close to talented enough to be an actual contender. Morant would certainly give them a star to build around, essentially replacing De'Aaron Fox after he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in February," Rapp wrote.

"The Kings would probably try to get off of Zach LaVine's contract in the process in an effort to make the money work, so this would be an expensive move for them, but they have all of their own first-round picks going forward along with San Antonio's first in 2027 and Minnesota's in 2031," Rapp continued.

"An alternate path might be something like Malik Monk, Keegan Murray, Jonas Valančiūnas and a mountain of picks for Morant, though a core group of Morant, LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis would be an odd fit. This might require another move or two to make sense for the Kings, but rebuilding around Morant would be more logical than keeping the status quo intact."

Even after trading away Bane, it seems unlikely that the Grizzlies would part ways with their franchise point guard, but nobody really knows what will happen at this point. Of course, the Kings' acquiring Morant would be an incredible move, but do they want to gamble their future on an injury-prone guard with off-court issues?

For a franchise in need of a big change, the answer should be yes.