The NBA trade deadline on February 5 was absolutely wild this year. We saw some massive moves go down. Anthony Davis packed his bags and headed to the Washington Wizards, and even veteran point guard Chris Paul found himself a new home.
A lot of folks around the league were also convinced that Ja Morant would end up in Miami. But when the deadline came and went, Morant was still in Memphis. Now we’re finally finding out why that deal never happened.
Reason Behind Why Ja Morant Did Not Go to the Miami Heat
For days, the buzz around the league suggested that Miami was the clear favorite to land Morant. In fact, NBA insider Brett Siegel recently revealed that Morant’s camp viewed the Heat as the only destination they were interested in at the time.
“Ja Morant’s camp, they see one avenue, and that avenue is the Miami Heat. They have been the team that has been linked to Ja Morant for weeks now, and it’s the team he potentially wants to go to, and if they’re willing to give him a big extension, like it seems like the indications are that could be the trade that goes down,” Siegel said during a segment of “The Drive Guys.”
But February 5 came around, and nothing. No trade. No Morant to Miami. So what happened?
Well, NBA insider Jake Fischer recently revealed that the Miami Heat didn’t check in on Morant for several days leading up to the deadline. They simply weren’t that serious about pursuing him.
It is because they had their sights set on Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Heat were putting all their energy into landing the Greek Freak instead.
“There was definitely noise and smoke; the Heat were trying to pull off both Ja and Giannis. To my understanding, the Heat weren’t really even that serious. The Heat from the conversation I had Wednesday night, before the deadline, they hadn’t checked in on Ja for several days. They were far more preoccupied with Giannis,” Fischer said during the interview.
Things really started falling apart back on November 1. Morant had a heated confrontation with head coach Tuomas Iisalo. It wasn’t just a minor disagreement. It was serious enough that the team suspended him for one game.
But the tension had been building even before that. The night before, on October 31, against the Lakers, Morant had a rough outing, scoring only 8 points. After the game, reports came out that Coach Iisalo confronted him in the locker room.
The coach apparently questioned whether Morant was giving his full effort and really being the leader the team needed him to be. Instead of taking that feedback constructively, Morant got pretty defensive.
Then things got even messier.
When reporters asked Morant why his playing time was reduced in the following game, he didn’t give them much. He basically told them to go ask the coaching staff themselves. That response didn’t sit well with anyone, and the team decided to bench him for their next game against Toronto as punishment.
Morant last suited up for Memphis on January 21 in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Since then, he has been sidelined with a left elbow injury and has missed nine straight games.
For now Morant remains a Grizzly, and the Heat have moved on from deadline talks. Still with tensions lingering and the offseason approaching it remains to be seen what happens next.
