De'Aaron Fox-Ja Morant trade suggestion is a blatant attempt at Spurs sabotage

The De'Aaron Fox conversations have been continuing as speculation over the Spurs guard's future spirals, despite San Antonio's declaration of commitment to their primary playmaker. Game Theory's Sam Vecenie recently threw out Ja Morant's name as a possible replacement option, understanding the team's need for elite playmaking, with the two young guards still so raw.

"You can just go get Ja Morant for half the cost of what De'Aaron Fox is in terms of long-term commitment. It's actually like a third of the cost." - Sam Vecenie

The Grizzlies' explosive guard only has $86 million left on his contract over the next two seasons. Compared to the $229 million over five years set to kick in for Swipa, it's a bargain. However, there's just one small problem. Morant is nowhere close to being a fit for the San Antonio culture, making this idea borderline outrageous.

Morant and the Spurs do not match

Before we get into this, let's reinforce the Spurs' belief in Fox one more time. They've been pretty clear about their desire to partner with the 28-year-old scorer for the foreseeable future. That should factor into the time people spend speculating on trade possibilities that aren't going to happen simply because the organization does not have any interest in them.

San Antonio just won 62 games with a strong offense and defense as presently constructed, and this group is just getting started. Critics are acting like Mitch Johnson's ball club had a failed season and making Fox the fall guy of an imagined catastrophe.

However, since we're going to ignore their explicitly stated feelings on the subject, let's talk about Morant. To take a page out of NFL commentator Cris Collinsworth's playbook, here's a guy who doesn't understand the responsibilities that come with being a star athlete in the public eye. He's shirked accountability every chance he's had, and that won't fly in the Alamo City.

Morant and the Spurs couldn't be more opposite

He's gotten himself suspended multiple times for immature behavior that really challenges the powers of understanding in ordinary people. This is America, so we can all understand why a young man may believe it's okay to possess a firearm, and it is, as long as it's done legally. But how you care for it and use it while representing a billion-dollar establishment is important.

Brandishing the weapon on the heels of an investigation into you and your camp for possibly pointing a laser sight at the Indiana Pacers' team bus is not very smart. He was suspended for eight games for it, only to get caught on video with another weapon months later. That got him 25 games. The league was clear with him at that point: no guns in public, no gun celebrations. Stop it.

When he returned the next season, he had a new celebration. It involved pulling the pin from a grenade and lobbing it. At this point, he's acting out, and when you're making 10s of millions of dollars, these transgressions are the reddest of flags for a family-friendly organization that prides itself on maintaining a pristine image.

That doesn't even get into his injury history. Morant has never played 70 games in a season and has only reached 50 games once over the past three years.

Yeah, none of this sounds like a guy who should be suiting up for the Silver and Black. He doesn't fit the culture one iota, and adding him to the roster would be about as detrimental to this team's title window as blowing the whole roster up. Pun intended.

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