The Oklahoma City Thunder face steep competition in the Western Conference to repeat as NBA champions this season. If one of those rivals can torpedo their chances by trading for Ja Morant, the Thunder would be quite pleased.
The Houston Rockets were expected to be one of the West's top teams this season, adding Kevin Durant to a roster that finished as the No. 2 seed last season and had rising talents such as Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson. When point guard Fred VanVleet went down in the preseason to a season-ending injury, however, their chances appeared to vanish.
Not so fast. The Rockets have come blasting off the launchpad to start the season, taking the Thunder to double overtime in their first game and going 5-1 since Opening Night. They are starting a gargantuan lineup of players all 6'7" and above and bludgeoning opponents on the offensive glass. Despite playing just one guard in their entire rotation, sophomore Reed Sheppard, they have the league's No. 1 offense and No. 1 overall net rating, ahead of even the Thunder.
The Rockets clearly have not needed a traditional point guard, at least not yet this season. Yet it's not unthinkable that the front office would conclude that this team needs someone to man that role in the playoffs and make a trade during the season to address the position. And in recent days, they have been linked to Ja Morant.
Ja Morant could be traded
The Memphis Grizzlies and their "star" point guard Ja Morant are currently locked into a somewhat public feud, and the situation is deteriorating quickly. Many around the league expect that the team will begin shopping Morant around, if they have not already.
The price tag to trade for Morant is likely the lowest it has ever been, but that doesn't mean a team like the Rockets would be getting a bargain, because then he has to actually step onto the court and play. He is no longer the All-NBA guard relentlessly attacking the rim with highlight dunks and setting up pinpoint passes to open teammates.
Instead, Morant is a ball-dominant inaccurate shooter no longer putting pressure on the rim and providing next to nothing on defense. He has rated as a negative player overall this season, a far cry from an All-Star guard worth the $40 million price tag.
If the Rockets were to use Fred VanVleet's contract as the primary means of trading for Morant, they may think they are getting a significant upgrade from a player who is sidelined to one who can play big minutes. The problem is that Morant would introduce a weak point in their defense right from the jump. His lack of floor-spacing would only exacerbate their issues related to a lack of shooting, and he wouldn't bring any of the secondary benefits of other shaky shooters like Thompson or Tari Eason.
Houston trading for Ja Morant would be dropping a bomb onto their meticulously built castle of dominance. For a Thunder team that is right to be wary of Houston as a playoff foe, Ja Morant joining the Rockets would make them significantly easier to defeat. Morant's poor defense would be a weak spot for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams to exploit, while on offense they could throw the length of Lu Dort on him and smother him. He would make the Rockets worse, not better.
It's an outcome the Thunder and their fans are rooting for.