{"id":766408,"date":"2026-06-21T02:36:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T02:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/766408\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T02:36:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T02:36:26","slug":"ja-morant-breaks-offseason-silence-as-grizzlies-star-awaits-trade-but-giannis-future-holds-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/766408\/","title":{"rendered":"Ja Morant breaks offseason silence as Grizzlies star awaits trade but Giannis future holds key"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ja Morant might be closer than ever to leaving Memphis, but there may still be a wait for the Grizzlies star.<\/p>\n<p>With the <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/topic\/new-york-knicks\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New York Knicks<\/a> wrapping up the NBA Finals to claim a first championship in 53 years, all eyes have switched to the offseason drama.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Ja Morant\" height=\"672\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"Getty\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/memphis-grizzlies-guard-ja-morant-809704932.jpg\" data-caption=\"Ja Morant is among the names who could be moved at teams move into position\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/memphis-grizzlies-guard-ja-morant-809704932.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>4<\/p>\n<p>Ja Morant is among the names who could be moved at teams move into positionCredit: Getty<a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks reacts to fans in the third quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center on January 04, 2026\" height=\"640\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"Getty\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/user-expressly-acknowledges-agrees-downloading-1079393473.jpg\" data-caption=\"Giannis Antetoukounmpo is expected to leave Milwaukee\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/user-expressly-acknowledges-agrees-downloading-1079393473.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>4<\/p>\n<p>Giannis Antetoukounmpo is expected to leave MilwaukeeCredit: Getty<\/p>\n<p>Morant&#8217;s future, and that of Milwaukee star <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/giannis-antetokounmpo\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>, are likely to dominate the build up to Tuesday&#8217;s NBA Draft.<\/p>\n<p>Both players appear poised to be the big draws in terms of deals being done, and in a draft class stacked with stellar talent, the time seems right for both players to move on.<\/p>\n<p>Morant is described as &#8216;very available&#8217; by Marc Stein and Jake Fischer in <a href=\"https:\/\/marcstein.substack.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Stein Line&#8217;s most recent trade roundup<\/a>, while Gianni&#8217;s price has been labelled as &#8216;unrealistic&#8217; by the respected NBA Insiders.<\/p>\n<p>Back in February they reported that Memphis were hopeful that the draft window would give them an opportunity for a bigger market.<\/p>\n<p>MORE FROM NBA<\/p>\n<p>A couple of seasons ago he was regarded as one of the league&#8217;s stars of the future, but now he may have to wait his turn for a move, at least until the belle of the trade ball &#8211; Antetokounmpo &#8211; has his future secured.<\/p>\n<p>Morant has been linked with a move away from the Grizzlies ever since he found himself suspended for 25 games for &#8216;conduct detrimental to the league&#8217; in thew 2023-24 season.<\/p>\n<p>But his hopes of being a prized asset have been hit by injuries and a lack of form, he started just 20 games in 2025-26, and a fresh start is expected for all parties.<\/p>\n<p>Having said little about his future of late, social media sleuths were quick to latch onto Morant&#8217;s most recent post on X, where five simple words had every questioning what it meant for the guard&#8217;s future.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If you got dreams, you better chase em!!&#8221; he posted, with a host of responses coming from NBA fans.<\/p>\n<p>Some suggested his &#8216;dream&#8217; should be a trade request, while fans of the Timberwolves were among the first to tell Morant that he should join Anthony Edwards and co.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Giannis Antetokounmpo\" height=\"540\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"getty\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/crop-3815202.jpg\" data-caption=\"Giannis has been linked with Boston Celtics and Miami Heat\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/crop-3815202.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>4<\/p>\n<p>Giannis has been linked with Boston Celtics and Miami HeatCredit: getty<a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Morant could team up with Anthony Edwards, with Minnesota one of a number of teams interested\" height=\"640\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"Getty\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/user-expressly-acknowledges-agrees-downloading-1058801250.jpg\" data-caption=\"Morant could team up with Anthony Edwards, with Minnesota one of a number of teams interested\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/user-expressly-acknowledges-agrees-downloading-1058801250.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>4<\/p>\n<p>Morant could team up with Anthony Edwards, with Minnesota one of a number of teams interestedCredit: Getty<\/p>\n<p>New Orleans have also been mentioned among the most realistic options for the 26-year-old, but Morant will likely have to wait until the cards fall following the Giannis sweepstakes.<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JaMorant\/status\/2068056763295834285\" rel=\"nofollow\"><\/p>\n<p>It has been widely reported that the <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/topic\/boston-celtics\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Boston Celtics<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/topic\/miami-heat\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Miami Heat<\/a> are leading the way for Giannis, but &#8216;The Greek Freak&#8217; will command a huge package, and a huge contract extension.<\/p>\n<p>The Athletic&#8217;s Sam Amick reports that the Bucks have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7375466\/2026\/06\/19\/giannis-antetokounmpo-nba-trade-jaylen-brown\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Tuesday as their deadline for trading Giannis (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">Tuesday as their deadline for trading Giannis<\/a>, but neither Boston nor Miami have blinked.<\/p>\n<p>The Celtics are favorites but would likely have to give up <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/jaylen-brown\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jaylen Brown<\/a> to get a deal done, while Tyler Herro would likely be the asset that Miami move on, with Stein suggesting Detroit could help facilitate that as the third team.<\/p>\n<p>Both players have been crucial to their respective teams and the decision facing both Miami and Boston is whether they are prepared to move on from a cornerstone for Antekounmpo.<\/p>\n<p>Like Morant, the 31-year-old endured an injury-plagued season, but would be regarded as a franchise centrepiece.<\/p>\n<p>NBA&#8217;s Greatest<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/COMP-bulls.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;League sources say the Grizzlies are hopeful that Morant will be some team\u2019s Plan B when the dust settles on Antetokounmpo\u2019s situation,&#8221; Amick reports.<\/p>\n<p>NBA Draft looms as deadline<\/p>\n<p>The reason for Tuesday&#8217;s deadline, is the 2026 NBA Draft, and the likelihood that any deals will involve picks this year &#8211; as well as in the future.<\/p>\n<p>The Bucks are already scheduled to pick in the top 10, and prospective trade partners Miami select at 13 with the Celtics at 27.<\/p>\n<p>At the top of the draft it was the <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/topic\/washington-wizards\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Washington Wizards<\/a> who won big via the lottery and they look to be weighing up AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson with the first overall pick.<\/p>\n<p>Utah pick second, with Memphis third and that selection is likely to help accelerate the Grizzlies rebuild.<\/p>\n<p>Morant&#8217;s expected departure will follow that of Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson as the Grizzlies rebuild goes up a gear.<\/p>\n<p>Read More on talkSPORT<\/p>\n<p>It promises to be a dramatic few days in the NBA.<\/p>\n<p>Stay up to date with the NBA across all our talkSPORT platforms &#8211; subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest news, opinion, exclusive interviews and our<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@talkSPORTSWord\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0daily unfiltered, unscripted show &#8216;The S* Word, from 8am ET<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ja Morant might be closer than ever to leaving Memphis, but there may still be a wait for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":766409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3795],"tags":[7,75,123,37134,67999,294,178,93980,65948,293,177,4070,189,6,12,23174,14174,1783],"class_list":["post-766408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-memphis-grizzlies","tag-basketball","tag-boston-celtics","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo-contract","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo-future","tag-grizzlies","tag-ja-morant","tag-ja-morant-contract","tag-ja-morant-future","tag-memphis","tag-memphis-grizzlies","tag-memphisgrizzlies","tag-miami-heat","tag-nba","tag-nba-draft","tag-nba-draft-rumors","tag-nba-trades","tag-nba-trade-rumors"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116785773610811471","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=766408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/766409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}