The Golden State Warriors face a period of desperation leading into next month's trade deadline if they want to salvage anything meaningful from this season after Jimmy Butler's season-ending knee injury.
As much as Butler's injury is truly devastating, it has opened up a whole now avenue of ideas no one would have previously thought possible -- including the suggestion of trading for Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant.
Warriors desperation could lead them to shock Ja Morant move
It's something that's now been floated by multiple different outlets, including by Dan Favale of Bleacher Report who believes Golden State could roll the dice on Morant given his seemingly relative low cost from a trade standpoint.
Now, Favale isn't proposing the Warriors trade Butler for Morant or anything drastic like that (not that the Grizzlies would either). Instead, he's contrsucted a deal that sends Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Buddy Hield and a 2026 first-round pick to Memphis for Morant and Vince Williams Jr.
The obvious issue with this trade is that it would leave Golden State incredibly short on wing-forward types. Having already lost Butler, they can't afford to move Kuminga and/or Moody without getting back some sort of 6'6"-6'8" player that can fill either forward positions.
Perhaps that's why Tim Kawakami and Marcus Thompson of the Warriors Plus Minus podcast even went as far as to discuss trading for both Morant and teammate Jaren Jackson Jr. in a deal that would have to include Butler.
Suddenly Golden State would be left with a starting five of Morant, Stephen Curry, (insert player), Draymond Green and Jackson -- that still doesn't made a ton of sense, but it just goes to show how drastic the proposals are getting in the wake of Butler's injury.
To Morant's credit, he's trying to remain in Memphis with public statements and better on-court form that suggests he could indeed stay beyond the deadline. The 26-year-old had a very notable 24-point, five-rebound, 13-assist game against the Orlando Magic in London, before going for 23 points and 12 assists on Wednesday in a loss to the Atlata Hawks.
But as much as Morant's value may have dropped to the point where he may be a worthy gamble for some teams, and while the Warriors should be casting the net wider at different targets in the wake of Butler's injury, it's hard to see them becoming desperate enough to acquire a player who doesn't appear to fit their team in any way, shape or form.