Ja Morant’s camp sent update on Grizzlies’ chances of trading guard to Timberwolves, Kings, Rockets originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies appear headed for a split between now and the February 6 NBA trade deadline. NBC Sports’ Kurt Helin revealed the Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings as interested suitors.

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The Houston Rockets, however, are not likely to be interested in a Morant deal because they need a pass-first point guard, not another hungry mouth to feed. Not when the team’s assist leader is the center.

“As written about this week at NBC Sports, league sources have told us there is not much of a trade market for Morant right now, and any offers for him at this point would be lowball ones looking for a steal. Minnesota and Sacramento are reportedly interested, not Houston (why take the ball out of the hands of Amen Thompson and Kevin Durant? The Rockets need a floor general at the point). Memphis is in a tough spot because Morant is still a player people pay to see in a small market, and the business side of the equation matters,” Helin wrote.

Minnesota is an interesting potential landing spot, offering both tradeable contracts with value like Donte DiVincenzo and Naz Reid, and a backcourt partner in Anthony Edwards, who isn’t a great fit as a fellow ball-dominant guard, but is certainly an exciting one.

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Since Minnesota will likely hold onto Mike Conley due to his no-trade clause, barring wanting to end his career in his long-time home of Memphis if this is his last year before retirement, Morant could even be an ideal sixth man in Minneapolis.

Sacramento would be chaos, especially if they held onto Dennis Schroder and/or Russell Westbrook. With Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan also needing the ball, the Kings make no sense for Morant.

And yet, in classic Sacramento fashion, the Kings are in the thick of the Morant sweepstakes. They have tradeable contracts, like Malik Monk and Devin Carter, to offer in a deal.

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The ball is in Memphis’s court. Even though Morant has been in trouble for the better part of three seasons, everyone could talk themselves into his peak 2022 form. It’s not been that long since Morant was an elite offensive player in the Association.