The New York Knicks had hoped to leave the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery with the No. 1 pick, also known as Zion Williamson, but instead, they received the No. 3 pick, which turned out to be RJ Barrett. The Pelicans drafted Zion with the No. 1 pick, followed by the Grizzlies taking Ja Morant at No. 2. New York got much luckier than everyone thought at the time by picking third.
Zion is still in New Orleans, but the Pelicans haven't experienced any success with him. He's currently out with a left hamstring strain. Ja is still in Memphis, and the Grizzlies were once one of the hottest young teams in the league with their star point guard leading the way, but that's no longer the case.
Barrett spent four-and-a-half seasons in New York before the Knicks traded him, Immanuel Quickley, and a 2024 second-round pick to the Raptors in a package centered around OG Anunoby. There was a mixed reaction from fans about the trade, but in the nearly two years since it happened, it has become clearer that the Knicks won that deal.
Knicks actually got lucky at the 2019 draft lottery
The season just started, and there are already signs that Morant could force himself out of Memphis. That doesn't mean that he will request a trade, but his situation is one that the NBA world is monitoring a couple of months before the trade deadline.
The Grizzlies' head coach, Tuomas Iisalo, "challenged" Morant's leadership and effort after the team's 117-112 loss to the Lakers last Friday, to which ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania reported that Morant "responded in a tone deemed inappropriate and dismissive." Memphis suspended Morant for one game.
You can understand why questions are swirling around about his future. Morant is clearly unhappy right now. Will that change sometime in the next couple of months?
On Tuesday, Marc Spears said on NBA Today that four executives he spoke with had no interest in trading for Morant if he were to become available. One executive said it had to do with Morant's contract and off-court issues.
If he does force his way out, there will be interest from opposing teams, but there will also be some reluctance.
Barrett was never in the middle of any drama when he was in New York; in fact, nobody saw the December 2023 trade coming. The Knicks wanted an upgrade on the wing, and they found that in Anunoby. It stung to see two homegrown stars go, but what Anunoby has brought to New York far outweighs those two losses.
New York was clowned for "missing out" on Zion in 2019, but look at what the Knicks turned Barrett into. A Ja trade for the Grizzlies, or a Zion trade for the Pelicans, wouldn't have the same effects on those two organizations that the Anunoby trade has had for New York.