Why the Houston Rockets are right to add Ja Morant

He is rumored to be a Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant is on the trading block after recent drama in Tennessee. Sam Amick of the Athletics published on Wednesday yes it is Houston Rockets “unlikely to continue,” according to team sources, which would be the right move for Houston.

I Morant’s decline highlights the risk

Morant is currently averaging just 20.4 points per game (his lowest mark since 2021), while shooting a career-high 39% from the floor and just 13% from three. All the while, Memphis has changed its approach under first-year head coach Tuomas Lisal to conserve Morant’s energy – but, so far, the results have gone in the wrong direction.

It might be short-sighted to write off the 26-year-old with Morant’s progress because of a slow start. After all, he’s not that far off from being in the “face of the NBA” conversation. But more than his play on the court, Morant doesn’t seem like a stylistic fit for Houston either.

A culture clash waiting to happen

As Amick wrote in his article, the NBA should stand for “Nothing But Alpha.” In Morant’s case, that description sounds more like a warning than a compliment.

The Keeper comes with more baggage than a Spirit flight. He there are more suspensions than in All-Star appearances, including one just last week over public criticism of his new coach, just weeks into Lisal’s tenure.

That style doesn’t seem to fit with what Rockets head coach Ime Udoka has built. Houston has turned this franchise around by relying on young stars who seem to lack egos. When former first-round pick Cam Whitmore began acting above his role, Udoka benched him before Houston cut him last offseason.

The star the Rockets brought in was Kevin Durant, a player who, despite some of his faults (ie, burner accounts), seems to lack the same alpha star ego that makes him a perfect fit for Houston. That’s why he was willing to join Golden State, knowing it wouldn’t be “his team” because Durant just wants to win.

The same motivation must be questioned for Morant, who even admitted this week that he had “lost the joy” of playing basketball, amid reports that he had quit his team. That’s not the mentality Houston built its success around.

If history is any guide, then the Rockets already know better than to bring in another ball-dominant point guard a la James Harden, Chris Paul and John Wall in years past. Still, the Rockets enjoyed great success with the underrated Fred VanVleet leading the offense last season.

Adding Ja Morant would break the Rockets’ offensive rhythm

VanVleet’s ACL injury could make Morant look like a tempting replacement, but it seems too early to give up on Houston’s offensive experiment of Amen Thompson leading the point and Reed Shepard playing more minutes.

The Rockets need answers about Shepard’s ability and future, as well as Thompson’s ability to carry the offense. Houston also did a great job of running the offense through Alperen Sengun in VanVleet’s absence, turning the power forward into one of the best players in the league.

The Rockets already have the No. 1 offense in the league, so why mess with that?

Morant ranks 12th in the league in usage rate, and his 2022-2023 season is in the top 10 in usage rate since COVID. Meanwhile, no Rocket is currently in the top 42. Morant is not the type of point guard the Rockets could need, nor is his defense up to Udoka’s standards.

Additionally, this is a Rockets team that needed shooting for two years, something that Morant wouldn’t help but actually make worse. Houston currently has the most efficient offense in the league, while Morant’s shots show a serious lack of efficiency on the offensive end.

Morant is a bad fit, on and off the floor, for what Udoka and the Rockets have done. In many ways, he is the antithesis.

Financial data makes trading almost impossible

Even if the Rockets wanted Morant, money doesn’t seem to work. Not only would he come with a three-year commitment, but it would be difficult to find a way to fit his salary into the Rockets’ payroll.

Since Houston was already over the tax threshold, they would have to match Morant’s $39.4 million salary. With the way this team is playing right nowwhy would you break it up? For context, trading Sengun still wouldn’t be enough to balance the budget — and he’s considered untouchable. Hypothetically, the Rockets would have to include Sengun and another player just to balance the numbers.

And while VanVleet might seem like an obvious replacement, his no-trade clause would likely close that route as well.

So the real question is: Why would the Rockets be interested in Morant?

Coincidentally, Houston’s next opponent is the Memphis Grizzlies, giving the Rockets an up-close look at Morant in action. However, their position should remain unchanged.