Another injury + serious decline! Should the Grizzlies trade Morant?

In the regular season, the Grizzlies lost to the Cavaliers 100-108 in an away game.

In this game, the Grizzlies led for almost the entire three quarters, and the point difference was more than two rounds most of the time. They led 84-76 until the end of the three quarters, but were defeated by the Cavaliers 32-16 in the final quarter to complete the reversal.

Mitchell, the Cavaliers' guard, had another wonderful performance: he played 33 minutes and made 10 of 21 shots, 4 of 13 three-pointers, 6 of 9 free throws, and scored 30 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. In the fourth quarter, Mitchell scored 14 points and 2 assists in a single quarter. One person created more points than the entire Grizzlies team.

In comparison, the Grizzlies' head guard Morant is a bit behind: In this game, Morant only played 6 minutes before he retired due to soreness in his right calf. His full-game statistics were fixed at 2-for-2 shooting, 7 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists.

After being reversed in the final quarter, Morant certainly does not take the blame, but objectively speaking, his recent state is really worrying. He was suspended for one game after playing against the Lakers. Morant's performance is not like an All-Star at all:

- Against the Lakers, 8 points, 1 rebound and 7 assists, 3 of 14 shots from the field (after this game, he was suspended internally by the Grizzlies for harming the interests of the team)

- Against the Pistons, 18 points, 5 rebounds and 10 assists, 5 of 16 shots from the field

- Against the Rockets, 1 7 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 6 of 19 shooting - vs. Mavericks, 21 points, 5 rebounds, 13 assists, 7 of 20 shooting - vs. Thunder, 11 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 of 18 shooting - vs. Knicks, 16 Points, 3 rebounds, 10 assists, 4 of 14 shots

In other words, in the past 7 games, Morant only averaged 14.0 points per game, shooting 29.1% from the field, 14.7% from the three-point range, and only 41.2% true shooting.

Even if he only scored 7 points excluding injuries in this game, in the past 6 games, Morant only averaged 15.2 points per game, with a true shooting percentage of 39.5%. This number can no longer be described as "a little bad."

There are still some bright spots. Morant averaged 9.3 assists per game during this period, ranking seventh in the league during the same period. However, his number of turnovers was also amazing, averaging 5 per game - what is the concept? In the past six games, Morant made a total of 28 shots and made 30 turnovers, with more turnovers than goals.

The focus is on personal offense. Something is really wrong with Morant. The shooting that he was originally not good at is even worse. In the past six games, he has made 5 of 34 three-pointers, with a shooting percentage of only 15%.

Some fans believe that this situation occurred because the Grizzlies head coach did not give Morant the ball.

Morant does have conflicts with Grizzlies head coach Isalo, and he is indeed not very adaptable to the new system. But just looking at the ball rights, Morant has not actually decreased much. This season, the ball usage rate is still over 30%. In the past six games, No matter how poorly he plays, his number of touches (79.2 times, compared to 67.7 times last season), time on the ball (6.8 minutes, 5.5 minutes last season), and number of dribbles per touch (4.56 times, compared to 4.34 times last season) have increased.

The current feeling of Morant is that on the one hand, he is incompatible with Isalo's new Grizzlies system (the best coach in Europe, emphasizing running without the ball, and team sharing the ball), on the other hand, his own decline is also obvious. Coupled with the off-court turmoil of the past few years, public conflicts this season, and ongoing injury concerns, Morant's future with the Grizzlies is indeed unclear.

According to previous news, Morant has attracted the attention of many teams, but his trade value is not high. The most discussed next destination is the Timberwolves. Timberwolves reporter Krawczynski once reported that the Timberwolves have made inquiries about Morant.

The well-known sports media Bleachers also simulated a transaction between the two parties:

-The Grizzlies sent Morant

-The Timberwolves sent Nazred, DiVincenzo, Dillingham, 2028 first-round swap, 4 second-round

For the Timberwolves, I personally feel that whether they need Morant is actually up for discussion. Judging from last season's playoff loss to the Thunder, the Timberwolves do lack the experience and talent to handle the ball.

But this season, Edwards, Randall, and McGrady have all improved in holding the ball. Will the team still sacrifice substitutes and young players for Morant? Not to mention whether it will have an impact on the locker room of the Western Conference Finals for two consecutive years, even if they don't make it out of the first round, it doesn't seem worth it.

Let’s just talk about Morant. He was very surprised in 2022. He was the fastest improved, the best second team, and led the team in the second round. At that time, he was considered to be the future face of the NBA. There was no problem at all, and his popularity was even higher than Edwards and Alexander.

In the past few years, Morant has not made much progress. He was suspended for many games off the court for holding a gun twice and suffered constant injuries on the court. Even so, Morant has actually maintained an All-Star level.

Until this season, Morant's state is really not right. From his attitude to his ability, there are constant doubts about him. Regardless of whether there is a trade in the future (December 15th will be a node, when players who have renewed their contracts during the offseason can be traded), I hope Morant can regain his past self and stop being ignored by everyone.