Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant will miss at least three weeks due to a left elbow injury. Morant sustained a UCL sprain in his left elbow during the team’s home game against the Hawks on Wednesday, the team tweets.
He will be reevaluated in approximately three weeks.
Along with impacting Memphis’ chances of making the postseason — the Grizzlies are currently in 12th place in the Western Conference — Morant’s injury could have a major implications on the front office’s approach to the trade deadline.
Reports surfaced early this month that Memphis was open to trading Morant. His latest injury will likely make it more difficult to deal him to any contender seeking point guard help.
Even prior to the injury, the market for Morant was limited at best. He has two more years and $87MM remaining on his five-year max contract. He’s making $39,446,090 this season.
Conversely, the Grizzlies might be more motivated to go into sell mode, including their other star, big man Jaren Jackson Jr.
Morant recently returned from a calf injury that sidelined him for over two weeks. He’s been highly effective in the two games since recovering from that injury. He posted 24 points and 13 assists in a win over Orlando on Sunday and had 23 points, 12 assists and three blocks in 30 minutes against the Hawks.
Morant has only suited up for 20 games this season, averaging 19.5 points and 8.1 assists.
All the most likely traded players are going down with injuries
Damn will this affect his hand gun game?
AKA I don’t want to get traded from this team.
Lol ok I’ll stop being cynical about all these injuries from now on
The whole league hurt