According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Memphis Grizzlies are officially open to trading Ja Morant before this season’s trade deadline. They want to “reset” their roster for their upcoming future.

If the Grizzlies were to trade their franchise player, they reportedly want young players and draft picks in return. This would launch Jaren Jackson Jr. as their new face of the franchise.

They believe having a team centered around Jackson, Cedric Coward, Zach Edey, Jaylen Wells, and Cam Spencer would be highly beneficial to their success.

This last offseason, the 26-year-old was eligible to sign a three-year, $178 million extension. However, Memphis wanted to wait before jumping to any decisions.

Right now, this situation is mirroring the Trae Young situation where he was ultimately traded to the Washington Wizards instead of remaining as their face of the franchise.

While Memphis has looked at keeping him, they are in favor of resetting this team. This began back in June when they traded Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic for four first-round picks.

According to Damichael Cole, the Memphis Grizzlies have no interest in making a trade for Phoenix Suns’ superstar Kevin Durant. Memphis did kick around the idea, however, they ultimately decided it wasn’t for them.

This comes heavily after the Desmond Bane trade where they secured a first-round pick swap and four first-round picks; many people believed Zach Kleiman could have flipped some of those picks and promising players to Phoenix for a “win-now” situation for Durant and Ja Morant.

In the end, they rather extend Jaren Jackson Jr. and remodel the team based on the abilities of Jackson and Morant. There isn’t even a realm of where they would be a “darkhorse.”

The 36-year-old continues to have his list as the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, and Miami Heat. The New York Knicks have no interest in him, and Durant has no interest in playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Phoenix is still trying to get a deal done before, or right at, Draft Night. However, they reportedly may extend the deadline past the NBA draft.

According to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, despite the Memphis Grizzlies trading away Desmond Bane, the organization has no intentions of trading Ja Morant or Jaren Jackson Jr.; while they are remodeling their team, they won’t fully launch into a hardcore rebuild.

General manager Zack Kleiman has went on record to say Memphis is not close to contention, which heavily implies changes were going to be made. This was after the Grizzlies were swept in the first round of the postseason by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

With them hiring Tuomas Iisalo as their permanent head coach, this will usher in a new type of system – a more upbeat, faster pace offense. They believe this will greatly benefit Jackson Jr. and Morant.

Rumors continue to speculate what moves the Grizzlies will make in the draft, in other trades, and even potential free agent signings. They have increased cap space and flexibility to mold their roster as they see fit.