Grizzlies Teardown 2026: Morant, Bane and Jackson All Gone

The Memphis Grizzlies have traded all three of the cornerstones who once won 56 games, and they did it in barely more than a year. Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. are all gone, dealt since Memphis was swept by Oklahoma City in the first round of the 2025 playoffs. What is left is a 25-57 team, a mountain of draft capital, and a bet on 2027 and beyond.

This was not a retool around the edges. Memphis stripped the roster to the studs, and the way each deal was structured tells you exactly what the front office is playing for.

How the Core Came Apart

The first domino was Bane, shipped to Orlando in the summer of 2025 for a package headlined by four first-round picks. That was the move that signaled Memphis was reading the room rather than running it back.

Jackson followed in February 2026, traded to Utah in an eight-player deal. Memphis sent out Jackson, John Konchar, Jock Landale and Vince Williams Jr. and brought back Walter Clayton Jr., Kyle Anderson, Taylor Hendricks, Georges Niang and three first-round picks, including the Lakers' 2027 first (top-four protected), per ESPN. The Suns' unprotected 2031 pick was part of the haul.

Morant was the last to go, dealt to Portland in June for Jerami Grant, Kris Murray and 1.0 million dollars in cash, without a single first-round pick coming back, per ESPN. That is the tell. When a franchise moves a former All-NBA guard for expiring-adjacent salary and no picks, it is not chasing value, it is clearing the runway and accepting whatever gets the deal done.

The Asset Pile

Add it up and Memphis is sitting on one of the deepest pick collections in the league. The Bane trade brought four firsts. The Jackson trade brought three more, including the Lakers' 2027 pick and Phoenix's unprotected 2031 selection. In the 2026 draft, Memphis owned pick No. 16, acquired from Orlando by way of Phoenix, plus a lottery pick that landed no lower than sixth overall.

The point of a teardown is optionality, and Memphis now has it in bulk. Those picks are the currency to either build slowly through the draft or repackage into the next disgruntled star when one becomes available. That is the same playbook Oklahoma City ran on the way back to contention, and the Grizzlies clearly studied it.

Betting Impact: A Tank Team With Upside on the Board

For a roster this thin on proven talent, the season-win market is the wrong place to look for value on Memphis. The interesting exposure is on the futures board. A team that just shed its top three players and holds a 2026 lottery pick that landed no lower than sixth is built, structurally, to lose games in the near term, and lottery odds reward exactly that. Any Memphis win-total number should be treated as a moving target until the rotation settles, and the market view will lag the roster reality for weeks.

The sharper long-term angle sits in draft and championship-timeline markets. The 2027 draft is where this teardown pays off or does not, and Memphis controls not just its own likely-high pick but the Lakers' 2027 first as well. That is two swings at a strong class. For anyone pricing Grizzlies futures, the model that matters is not next season's win total, it is the value of the pick pile against the 2027 and 2028 outlooks. Tank-and-reload teams are systematically mispriced early because casual money anchors to the departed stars, not the incoming assets.

Treat any Memphis futures line as a snapshot, and remember that a rebuild's variance runs both directions: the same roster that floors a win total can also spike a lottery ticket.

What to Watch Next

The next markers are the rotation and the coaching relationship. Morant clashed with head coach Tuomas Iisalo over the offensive system during a 4-11 start last season, and that friction was part of why the reset accelerated. With Morant gone, watch how Memphis develops its young core and whether the front office holds its picks or moves early to reload. The teardown is complete. The rebuild is the real story now.

Chad AI tracks every trade, win-total move and futures shift inside the StatSniper app. The sports picks hub has the model's read on the NBA board, and the Chad picks hub covers the rest. For the young-core angle, see our Grizzlies rebuild outlook after the Morant trade. Trade details are at ESPN.

FAQ

Which players did the Grizzlies trade away? Memphis traded Desmond Bane to Orlando (summer 2025), Jaren Jackson Jr. to Utah (February 2026), and Ja Morant to Portland (June 2026), moving all three of its former cornerstones inside 14 months.

What did the Grizzlies get for Ja Morant? Memphis received Jerami Grant, Kris Murray and 1.0 million dollars in cash from Portland, with no first-round pick attached, per ESPN.

How much draft capital do the Grizzlies have? Memphis holds seven-plus first-round picks from the Bane and Jackson trades, including the Lakers' 2027 first and the Suns' unprotected 2031 pick, on top of its own selections.

Are the Grizzlies rebuilding or reloading? Both are possible. The pick haul gives Memphis the option to build slowly through the draft or package picks for the next available star, which is why the 2027 draft is the key checkpoint.

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