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Since Jaren Jackson Jr. signed a $239.9 million contract extension with the Memphis Grizzlies on July 13, he quietly became eligible to be traded on Tuesday, just as he more loudly enters a trade discussion.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Kelly Iko, if the Grizzlies move on from Ja Morant, as expected, “there’s a growing thought [among rival executives] that Jackson could be the next domino to fall at some point.”
The question, then: What might a trade market for Jackson look like? Robust, to be sure. There are not a lot of 26-year-old, two-time All-Stars in the NBA. Even fewer who have won a Defensive Player of the Year award. And almost none others who can also both space the floor and create for themselves offensively.
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Think of the champions of the 2020s — the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder — all of them featured at least one of these skeleton-key bigs who can shrink the court defensively and expand it on the other end, unlocking a title.
In that sense, Jackson may not be just another name on the trade market. He could be the reason the next champion was able to counteract Chet Holmgren against the championship favorite in OKC. Jackson can play alongside a center, too, as a floor-spacing forward opposite the Thunder’s double-big lineups.
He might also be the reason the Grizzlies are willing to accept less than equal value for Morant. They recently began entertaining offers for the two-time All-Star point guard, prioritizing a package of “draft picks and young players” in return, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Except, as the market surfaced, Memphis was seeking “at least” a single first-round draft pick as a haul, per Substack insider Marc Stein.
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Remember, four-time All-Star point guard Trae Young was traded last week for the expiring contracts of CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. No draft picks were exchanged in the transaction. It was essentially a cost-cutting measure for the Atlanta Hawks, and the Grizzlies will hope Morant’s market is not the same.
If it is, though, what message does that send? By…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/unlocking-a-contender-the-jaren-jackson-jr-trade-market-174324585.html
Author : Ben Rohrbach
Publish date : 2026-01-14 17:43:00
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