Bleacher Report this offseason ranked a hypothetical package that would send DeMar DeRozan, De'Andre Hunter and a 2030 first‑round pick — top‑10 protected via Minnesota — to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of a Ja Morant trade.
The specifics matter: Morant still has two years and roughly $87 million left on his deal, Memphis will pick third in the upcoming NBA draft, and Sacramento — the team most centered in the proposal — selects seventh. The proposal also noted Sacramento could probably complete a deal without including the protected Timberwolves pick, while another ranked package put Patrick Williams, Jalen Smith, Rob Dillingham and the No. 4 pick on Memphis' side; Williams carries three years and about $54 million remaining.
Those figures frame why the ranked package feels like a new benchmark. Memphis has already traded most of the roster core it once believed in, and the franchise has not completed its pivot away from that era until Ja Morant is playing somewhere else. With the Grizzlies holding a top‑three draft slot, any incoming offer has to be measured not only against player value but against the opportunity cost of the No. 3 pick.
The friction is obvious: teams say they want shot‑creators, but Morant’s market was cold at the last trade deadline, and he did not play after the trade‑deadline break. That winter chill matters now because the only factors that can meaningfully inflate Morant’s return are the passage of time and the shrinkage of the money left on his current contract. In practice, that steers trade talk toward expiring salaries, reliable role players and protected future picks rather than a mirror‑image star swap.
Roster construction across the league helps explain the arithmetic. The Bulls are just now beginning a proper rebuild. Minnesota has already been previously linked to Morant and also figures in several pick‑routing scenarios. The supplemental rankings noted teams often covet ball handlers; the piece observed that the Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons suffered in the playoffs from not having enough reliable ball handlers — a line that underlines why Detroit and Minnesota appear in broader offseason whispers about playmakers.
Offseason movement elsewhere tightens the market for singular playmaking stars. As one reporter put it about another star pursuit: "Sources tell The Stein Line that the Mavericks, thus far this offseason, have been messaging to teams that Irving is not available." That same reporting named Detroit and Minnesota as teams currently interested in Kyrie Irving this offseason, a reminder that teams circling elite ball handlers are also juggling multiple, overlapping priorities.
All of which helps explain why Bleacher Report’s DeRozan/Hunter/2030 pick example sits comfortably in the middle of plausible outcomes: it leans on veterans and a protected future asset rather than a blockbuster haul. Even high‑usage veterans such as Julius Randle become peripheral to that calculus when the market prices protection and controllable contracts above pure star equivalence.
What happens next is straightforward and consequential. Memphis can wait and press the No. 3 pick or it can accept a package that converts Morant’s immediate, risky talent into veterans, protected picks and a clearer cap picture. No trade is confirmed; the single open question is which suitor will present an offer that convinces Memphis to complete its pivot. Until that offer arrives, the Grizzlies’ offseason will be defined less by headline‑grabbing swaps and more by a measured weighing of draft capital against available veterans and protections.
