Jaren Jackson Jr. and the Memphis Grizzlies were previously expected to agree to a renegotiate-and-extend contract this offseason and the mechanics of that type of deal became easier following the team’s trade of Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic.
“He is now in a position to sign a contract extension of over $200 million,” said Brian Windhorst on Monday. “I would feel like that is very strongly going to happen.”
Jackson is considered highly unlikely to be traded by the Grizzlies and their decision to move on from Bane shouldn’t be interpreted as the beginning of a rebuild where Jackson and Ja Morant could also be moved.
“No chance,” said Windhorst emphatically when asked whether Jackson could be traded to a team such as the Los Angeles Lakers or Golden State Warriors. “Nooooooo chance. Absolutely not worth a discussion.”
Morant presents a more complicated extension scenario for the Memphis front office. However, Morant is also unlikely to be traded due to depressed market value.
“On the Ja Morant front, that’s a different discussion,” said Windhorst. “I would kind of be surprised if the Grizzlies were willing to give a $200 million extension to Ja at this point. I would just say as far as a Ja Morant trade, this would be a terrible time to trade him, even if you wanted to. His value is not where it is. The changes they made at coach were designed to make Ja more comfortable.
“I find the Grizzlies saying they’re going to keep these two guys very plausible. What I don’t find plausible is that they’re done making moves because this move doesn’t make them look like they’re getting better in a very difficult Western Conference.”
