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TheMemphis Grizzliesare entertaining offers forJa Morantfor the first time with an eye toward potentially moving him to another team before Feb. 5,according to a new ESPN report on Friday, Jan. 9. Though Morant has been the subject of trade rumors previously, especially since he served a one-game suspension following a dispute with coach Tuomas Iisalo in November, the franchise previously shot down speculation it was considering another direction.

Multiple teams are pursuing Morant, ESPN reported, and Memphis is seeking young players and/or draft picks in return if it were to complete a deal. Morant's potential availability comes on the heels ofthe Atlanta Hawks trading star point guard Trae Young to the Washington Wizardsearlier this week.

Ja Morant is in the third season of a five-year, $197-million contract. He is set to make a salary of more than $42.1 million next season and $44.8 million in 2027-28.

Oct. 26: The Brooklyn Nets' Michael Porter Jr. dunks in front of the San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama at Frost Bank Center.

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NBA TRADE DEADLINE:Who could be dealt this year? One player from all 30 teams

Ja Morant trade landing spots

Several teams are already being linked to Morant on a speculative basis since his potential availability became public.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Minnesota is looking for point guard help for Anthony Edwards entering the NBA playoffs and could use Julius Randle and 2024 first-round pick Rob Dillingham to pull off a trade with the Grizzlies. The Timberwolves have also been named as a potential landing spot for Bulls guard Coby White. One drawback is Minnesota doesn't have much to offer in draft picks due to previous transactions.

Miami Heat

If the Heat decide to make a splash at the trade deadline, they could offer the Grizzlies guard Tyler Herro and perhaps an enticing young role player such as Ke'lel Ware or Jaime Jacquez.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks are desperate to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo happy and perhaps a pairing with Morant in Milwaukee would appease him. Guard Ryan Rollins and draft picks could be part of a potential trade package, though Memphis would need to take on some of the Bucks' bigger contracts to make the deal work.

Sacramento Kings

The Kings appear willing to trade much of their roster at the deadline, with players such as Zach Lavine, Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk, DeMar DeRozan and Keon Ellis all mentioned as potentially on the move. Sacramento has three first-round draft picks over the next two years. Would it be willing to part with one, and/or an intriguing young player like Ellis, to build around Morant and unload a high-priced contract.

Ja Morant stats

Morant is averaging 19 points. 7.6 assists and 3.2 rebounds in 18 games this season. He's shooting a career-worst 40.1% from the field and 20.8% from 3-point range.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Ja Morant potential landing spots with Grizzlies open to making trade

"I've grown as an athlete and as a person, learned from incredible coaches, and built relationships that I'll carry with me for life," Haynes wrote in a post on Instagram. "Representing Michigan and embracing what it means to be a Michigan Man is something I'll always be proud of."

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The 21-year-old Haynes has spent only one season in Ann Arbor after transferring to Michigan last year following two years with Alabama. The junior rushed for 857 yards and 10 touchdowns this season and averaged 7.1 yards per carry as the Wolverines finished 9-4 and lost in the Citrus Bowl to Texas.

Haynes was limited to only seven games in 2025 aftersuffering a season-ending foot injuryagainst Michigan State in October.

As Haynes departs,Oklahoma back Taylor Tatumwill enter the running back room in Ann Arbor for new Wolverines coach Kyle Whittingham.

It is easy to see why many observers say things are a mess in college football even amid ahighly compelling postseason.

"It gets crazier and crazier. It really, really does," said Sam Ehrlich, a Boise State legal studies professor whotracks litigationagainst the NCAA. He said he might have to add a new section for litigation against the NCAA stemming just from transfer portal issues.

"I think a guy signing a contract and then immediately deciding he wants to go to another school, that's a kind of a new thing," he said. "Not new kind of historically when you think about all the contract jumping that was going on in the '60s and '70s with the NBA. But it's a new thing for college sports, that's for sure."

Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. said late Thursday he willreturn to schoolfor the 2026 season rather than enter the transfer portal, avoiding a potentially messy dispute amid reports the Huskies were prepared to pursue legal options to enforce Williams' name, image and likeness contract.

Edge rusher Damon Wilson is looking to transfer after one season at Missouri, having been sued for damages by Georgia over his decision to leave the Bulldogs. He has countersued.

Then there is Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who reportedly had a new NIL deal waiting while he asked the NCAA for approval to play another season after leading the Rebels to Thursday night'sCollge Football Playoff semifinalagainst Miami. The NCAA a day after Miami's windenied his request.

On that Miami roster? Defensive back Xavier Lucas, whose transfer from Wisconsinled to a lawsuitfrom the Badgers, claiming he was improperly lured to Miami by NIL money. Lucas has played all season for the Hurricanes and now gets a chance at a national championship. The case is pending.

What to do?

Court rulings have favored athletes of late, winning them not justmillions in compensationbut the ability to play immediately after transferring rather than have to sit out a year as once was the case. They can also discuss specific NIL compensation withschools and boosters before enrolling. Current court battles include players seeking to play longer, without lower-college seasons counting against their eligibility, and earning NIL money while doing it.

Ehrlich compared the situation to the labor upheaval professional leagues went through before finally settling on collective bargaining, which has been looked at asa potential solutionby some in college sports over the past year. Athletes.org, a players association for college athletes, recently offered a38-page proposalof what a labor deal could look like.

"I think NCAA is concerned, and rightfully so, that anything they try to do to tamp down this on their end is going to get shut down," Ehrlich said. "Which is why really the only two solutions at this point are an act of Congress, which feels like an act of God at this point, or potentially collective bargaining, which has its own major, major challenges and roadblocks."

The NCAA has been lobbying for years for limited antitrust protection to keep some kind of control over the new landscape — and to avoid more crippling lawsuits — but bills have gone nowhere in Congress.

Universities have long balked at the idea that their athletes are employees in some way. Schools would become responsible for paying wages, benefits, and workers' compensation. And while private institutions fall under the National Labor Relations Board, public universities must follow labor laws that vary from state to state; virtually every state in the South has "right to work" laws that present challenges for unions.

Ehrlich noted the short careers for college athletes and wondered whether a union for collective bargaining is even possible.

A harder look at contracts

To sports attorney Mit Winter, employment contracts may be the simplest solution.

"This isn't something that's novel to college sports," said Winter, a former college basketball player who is now a sports attorney with Kennyhertz Perry. "Employment contracts are a huge part of college sports, it's just novel for the athletes."

Employment contracts for players could be written like those for coaches, he suggested, which would offer buyouts and prevent players from using the portal as a revolving door.

"The contracts that schools are entering into with athletes now, they can be enforced, but they cannot keep an athlete out of school because they're not signing employment contracts where the school is getting the right to have the athlete play football for their school or basketball or whatever sport it is," Winter said. "They're just acquiring the right to be able to use the athlete's NIL rights in various ways. So, a NIL agreement is not going to stop an athlete from transferring or going to play whatever sport it is that he or she plays at another school."

There are challenges here, too, of course: Should all college athletes be treated as employees or just those in revenue-producing sports? Can all injured athletes seek workers' compensation and insurance protection? Could states start taxing athlete NIL earnings?

Winter noted apending federal case against the NCAAcould allow for athletes to be treated as employees more than they currently are.

"What's going on in college athletics now is trying to create this new novel system where the athletes are basically treated like employees, look like employees, but we don't want to call them employees," Winter said. "We want to call them something else and say they're not being paid for athletic services. They're being paid for use of their NIL. So, then it creates new legal issues that have to be hashed out and addressed, which results in a bumpy and chaotic system when you're trying to kind of create it from scratch."

Employment contracts would not necessarily allow for uniform rules with an athlete able to go to transfer when terms have been met. Collective bargaining could include those guidelines.

"If the goal is to keep someone at a school for a certain defined period of time, it's got to be employment contracts," Winter said.

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