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Miami Heat Rumored as Ja Morant Landing Spot Amid Trade Speculation

The Memphis Grizzlies shocked the NBA world after the franchise dealt its 26-year-old rising star Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic on Sunday.

Following their decision to ship one of their longtime building blocks away, many have begun to wonder if the organization plans to deal their electrifying 2-time All-Star point guard, Ja Morant.

In the case of Memphis deciding to initiate a full-scale rebuild, recent updates from Yahoo Sports' Vince Goodwill have indicated that the Miami Heat could emerge as a frontrunner to land the high-flier if a Morant trade market were to develop.

While the rest of the Grizzlies' plans for the immediate future are yet to be laid out, Bane's recent departure serves as a possible foreshadowing.

"Don’t think I’m breaking news here, but in the middle of the whole Jimmy Butler saga last year, one name that multiple league sources brought up to me was, ‘Hey, you might want to check on Ja Morant in Miami," Goodwill shared during a Monday afternoon episode of his Good Word with Goodwill podcast.

"And I didn’t understand the iterations of it. I was like, this is going to be a really complicated trade — A, because of Jimmy’s extension; B, because of Ja’s long money."

With Bane now headed to the Magic, Goodwill also reflected on previous rumors of Bane and Morant both leaving Memphis via trade.

"And there were iterations of Ja and Desmond Bane being shipped out, which sounds like it could be true, considering Desmond Bane was just traded yesterday."

If the Heat were to acquire the Grizzlies' superstar guard, a package centered around Jaime Jaquez Jr., Andrew Wiggins and possibly even 2025 All-Rookie Second Team selection center Kel'el Ware would likely be sent back to Memphis.

While it would certainly sting for the Heat to lose out on Ware, specifically, bringing in a player of Morant's caliber would be a franchise-altering move if he were to remain healthy.

In 50 appearances for the Grizzlies this past season, the leaping 6-foot-2 guard contributed 23.2 points and 7.3 assists on a 50.4% effective field goal percentage.

A Morant-Tyler Herro backcourt would immediately become one of the most fearsome scoring duos in the NBA, and Bam Adebayo could serving as a wonderful pick-and-roll partner for the excellent passer.

It remains unlikely that the Grizzlies would choose to move on from Morant this offseason, but the possibility is certainly one to monitor.

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