The offseason has arrived for the Phoenix Suns, and the thought experiments are underway. What should this team do to get better? No one is immune to it, and no one should be. That’s part of fandom. You want a better situation, a more competitive team, and you start building ideas around how to get there. The offseason is where those ideas live.
I’ve already put out my preliminary manifesto on how I think the Suns should approach this. No specifics. No player targets, no trade machines. More of a vision
document.
As this offseason gets going, there’s a name that keeps popping up in threads, comments, and conversations. A name that honestly surprises me. And here I am, once again writing why it makes no sense.
That name is Ja Morant.
I understand where it comes from. The Suns are thin at point guard, and that drives the conversation. There aren’t many traditional point guards left in the modern NBA, and true facilitators who run a team are rare. The position has evolved. It’s more about ball handling, decision making, and limiting mistakes. With so few options, it makes sense that people gravitate toward the names that exist.
What doesn’t make sense is why Morant is one of them.
We just watched a season in which this team checked some important boxes. They took real steps with their culture and identity. They operated with fiscal responsibility. They were competitive in a way that was actually enjoyable to watch. If you think Ja Morant is the answer, you missed the assignment. Or you didn’t read it. Or you’re trying to force square pegs into round holes using an outdated roster-building template.
Start with the on-court reality. Morant isn’t available. He hasn’t played more than 65 games in a season since his rookie year, when he played 67. His style is reckless at the rim, and that matters. You’re talking about a player whose athleticism is tied to how he plays, and that’s trending the wrong way over time. He’s a career 31.1% three-point shooter, and only 17.8% of his career points come from deep. The offensive value you’re paying for doesn’t stretch the floor. If that style keeps leading to missed time, why are you bringing that in? It’s simply not sustainable.
Defensively, it’s not good either. He’s a liability. His perimeter isolation defense grades out as a D, around the 26th percentile per BBall Index.
I’ll give him this: he can facilitate. His playmaking grades out as an A+. That’s the appeal. That’s the hook. The idea is simple: bring in a primary facilitator, let Devin Booker work off-ball, and get him back to his natural spot at shooting guard. That’s where he’s at his best. I understand that line of thinking. But it’s hard to facilitate when you’re in street clothes.
What makes it even harder to accept is the salary. Ja Morant is slated to make $42.1 million next year and $44.9 million the year after. With a $165 million cap, that’s 25.5%. Factor in the Suns’ dead money and Phoenix is effectively operating around $141.8 million, which pushes that number to 29.7%. From a financial responsibility standpoint, paying a premium for a player without a track record of health is not a path I want to go down. We’ve seen this movie. Bradley Beal is the example. The difference is that Morant doesn’t have a no-trade clause.
To acquire him, you’re moving multiple assets. The obvious starting point is Jalen Green because of the $36.3 million number next season. Strip it down to the on-court profile, and a lot of it overlaps. Both attack the rim. Both are suboptimal from three. Green actually grades out better defensively on the perimeter, a C+ in the 57th percentile. He’s younger. He has a reputation for being available. Last season was an outlier with 50 games missed. Before that, he missed one game in two and a half years. You’re moving availability, and likely attaching more to do it.
I see the ideas. Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale, a sign-and-trade with Mark Williams. Why would Memphis want that? The Memphis Grizzlies have already started reshaping their core, moving on from Desmond Bane last offseason and Jaren Jackson Jr. at the deadline. The goal there is draft capital. They’re not looking to take back scraps. And if the price is draft capital on your end, that circles back to the same point. Trading picks for Morant is irresponsible.
The final reason I’m so against acquiring Ja Morant comes back to culture and identity. He misses games because of injuries, that’s true. He also misses games because of immaturity and a lack of accountability. We know the stories. We’ve seen the videos. Off the court, he has been an issue for the Memphis Grizzlies.
Who he surrounds himself with is his choice, and I respect that. You can still learn a lot about someone by the company they keep, and Morant keeps finding himself in trouble because of off-court behavior and poor decision-making. The accountability piece hasn’t been there. There’s an air about him that he’s above certain rules. It shows up in press conferences. It shows up in how he handles adversity.
That mindset runs counter to everything the Phoenix Suns are trying to build. This is a team leaning into connectivity. An organization trying to lay a foundation rooted in chemistry. Adding Morant pulls you in the opposite direction.
When I think about acquiring Ja Morant, I cringe. It feels like the people beating that drum got hit with one of those little red lights from Men in Black. They forgot who the Phoenix Suns were an offseason ago and how they got there. Acquiring Morant is bringing in the worst parts of Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. You get the attitude and lack of accountability. You get the contract and the health concerns. Why go down that path again? Why live in that space again? Because he fills a positional need?
I get the desire for a facilitator. I don’t get the desire for that facilitator to be overpriced, entitled, unproductive, and unavailable. We’re going to spend plenty of time this offseason talking through what comes next for the Suns.
Morant isn’t it.
