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Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman said the team is pivoting to a younger build, but Morant still believes he can be happy in Memphis. "Why can't I be? I've been happy this whole time," Morant said. Even though Morant stated that he hopes to be back in Memphis, the situation remains uncertain. He was asked if he believes he'll be on the team next season. "I hope so," Morant said. "You would know more than me. The internet is right there. Everything you're asking me has been on the internet."
Chris Herrington: Zach Kleiman on Ja Morant, post trade deadline.
Zach Kleiman on Ja Morant, post trade deadline. pic.twitter.com/2LFJIrfIq8
— Chris Herrington (@ChrisHerrington) February 6, 2026
Drew Hill: Kleiman being pressed on if Ja will play this season. "It's a medical determination."
Damichael Cole: I asked Kleiman why fans should be confident the organization is going to build a winning team moving forward. He mentioned the group of young guys and draft assets. “I think we’re as well positioned for success as any team in the league as we push forward.”
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Damichael Cole: Zach Kleiman in part on Ja Morant trade talks: “This is about organizational direction now. This is not about Ja in particular.”
Damichael Cole: On a potential Ja trade, Zach Kleiman said in part: “We made the trades that we felt like were in the best interest of the organization going forward.”
Damichael Cole: Kleiman mentions Zach Edey, Cedric Coward, Jaylen Wells and Walter Clayton Jr. as some young players for the future. He said he’s not going to “sit here and crown any of them,” but those players are some who could factor in the new direction.
Damichael Cole: Zach Kleiman is talking. He thanks Jaren Jackson Jr. and the others for their time in Memphis. “This is all organizational direction.”
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The Grizzlies have made Ja Morant available for weeks, but sources have been skeptical of general manager Zach Kleiman finding a deal. Those same sources are more interested in whether Jaren Jackson Jr. could find a new team this week, though the cost to get him out of Memphis is believed to be quite high.
Zach Kleiman is way too pragmatic to let one game change that much. Ja Morant has made it very clear he does not want to get traded. He wants to stay. The reality is I don’t think there is a huge market for him. I don’t think there’s a trade the Grizzlies could make to sell to their fans… He wants to stay but he also wants to have more say like he used too. The franchise does not revolve around Ja Morant anymore like It used too. When Ja Morant clashed with the coach early in the season the FO stood behind the coach in that scenario.
Sam Amick: “And man, Ja — like he was in a good place. Considering how much time we spent talking and writing about the stuff that happened early on in the season when it seemed like he was ready to get out of Memphis and he was frustrated with the coaching staff — you know, what I saw that night was a very different picture where he was obviously hurt, but he's on the bench coaching guys up. Um, literally even engaging with Tuomas Iisalo about stuff, you know, on—on the playboard, um, things like that. So talking to people around the team, you know, Zach Kleiman, their GM, continues to not show much interest, if any, in moving Ja and to tell people that they're trying to push this thing through. Again, you know, it seems like Ja and even his—his camp and his family are—are trying to make it work.”
Following an argument with Grizzlies head coach Tuomas Iisalo and a one-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team, rival NBA executives circled like vultures conducting due diligence to see if the Ja Morant era in Memphis was nearing an end. However, Grizzlies executive Zach Kleiman declined trade inquiries on Morant then and has since, for the time being, league sources told HoopsHype.