NBA Trade Rumors: After Ja Morant's season-ending injury, the Memphis Grizzlies should look to retool their roster.
In short, it's been a season to forget for the Memphis Grizzlies. As soon as it was announced that Ja Morant was going to miss the first 25 games of the regular season due to a suspension, you could see the writing was on the all. The Grizzlies were set up for failure before the season even began. That was hammered home with their terrible start to the season. It has officially been punctuated by Morant's season-ended injury.
With Morant out for the year and the Grizzlies at 13-23, 4.5 games out of the 10th seed in the Western Conference standings, there's an argument to be made that this is a team that needs to embrace a bit of a retooling around their superstar guard. And the NBA Trade Deadline could be the perfect opportunity for the Grizzlies to kickstart that philosophy.
Heading into the trade deadline, which is officially less than a month away, we'll explore three players that the Grizzlies must explore trading in an attempt to shake up the supporting cast around Morant.
3 Players the Memphis Grizzlies must explore trading at the deadline
Santi Aldama
Let's start with a player who has emerged as a bit of a difference-maker as of late for the Memphis Grizzlies. As a late first-round pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, Santi Aldama has emerged as a useful contributor for the Grizzlies over the past two seasons. He's taken another step forward this year for the Grizzlies and is averaging 10 points and six rebounds on 44 percent shooting from the field and 34 percent shooting from 3-point range.
As a player who has one year remaining on his contract, playing behind Jaren Jackson Jr., I firmly believe the Grizzlies should explore cashing in on the asset that Aldama has become over the past two seasons. Especially if the Grizzlies don't believe he's going to be considered a bit part of the future, there's no reason why the Grizzlies shouldn't at the very least explore his trade market.