Despite the spiraling trajectory of the season, another injury for Giannis, and growing cries to embrace a rebuild, the Milwaukee Bucks remain involved in Ja Morant rumors. Bringing them to fruition would split the fanbase down the middle.
An increasing number of fans just want to rip off the Baid-Aid and tank. In that case, trading for Morant would clearly be counterproductive. Others still want to save what's left of the season. A trade might not do that, but even a blind swing is more likely to satisfy that outcome than bailing altogether.
The truth is that adding Morant wouldn't leave anyone happy in the end. One thing it would do is instantly widen the divide between the tank-versus-try camps where each side stands now.
Morant trade would surely split the fanbase in two
Never robust to begin with due his contract and down year, Morant's market has cooled since a wave of initial coverage. ESPN's Tim Bontemps believes interest from parties like the Bucks and Sacramento Kings was never as high as implied. Now out with an elbow injury, Morant is not expected to return until after the trade deadline has passed.
Yet his name lingers in the lukewarm waters of the trade market. In theory, he could be a target worth at least monitoring as a buy-low opportunity given his athletic playmaking and scoring.
Morant has only played 20 games this season and has not been especially effective when on the court. He is still averaging 19 points and 8.1 assists per game, but a ghastly 44.1 effective field goal percentage limits his efficiency. From distance, Morant is shooting just 23.5 percent on high volume. Yikes. He is poor on defense. A combination of injuries and off-court issues have limited him to 79 games over the last three seasons. His market is cold for a reason.
Plenty of Milwaukee fans wouldn't be interested, anyway. The way this roster looks now, with Giannis hurt once more, it is doubtful any trade could put the Bucks back together again. The soonest Antetokounmpo could return, based on his initial recovery timetable, is after the All-Star break. If the season isn't past saving now, it would be by then. The best strategy is probably just to lose as many games as possible to secure a high draft pick.
Not everyone agrees. The Bucks, after all, have made the playoffs and finished above .500 nine years running. Fans aren't used to losing, not in the regular season. And it's true: maybe Morant's injury disappears after a trade and he returns to being the dynamic force of seasons past. For whatever it's worth, he looked a lot like that guy during the two games he played before getting hurt again against Atlanta.
So, yes, maybe Morant could help the Bucks improve on their poor winning percentage without Giannis. They would absorb his remaining two years and $87 million after this season, plus send out multiple rotation pieces to get him, but maybe staying alive in the Play-in race is worth it. Many fans would tell you it's not.
Say the Bucks did secure a Play-in bid. Being swept in the first round might be the best possible outcome. Would that be enough to keep Giannis content? There goes a good draft pick. Having Morant's salary on the books would leave even less room to build an actual contender this offseason.
Trading for Ja Morant would likely make little difference to the end result of this season. It could make a big one in the future. It doesn't take a crystal ball to predict that the immediate effect would simply be to drive a chasm between opposing camps of the fanbase.