Obviously there is no way for us as outsiders to know for sure but they've historically been a team that has been averse to building through the draft or developing talent. Outside of Mike Conley Jr and Marc Gasol (as well as Rudy Gay depending on how you view his career), they've had a slew of lottery picks that were outright busts, who they quickly gave up on e.g. Xavier Henry, OJ Mayo, Hasheem Thabeet, etc. or first round picks that never made it past their rookie contracts e.g. Kyle Lowry, Jordan Adams, etc.
That history makes me wonder how wedded to the no.2 they are and whether we could trade for it. I know there a slew of folks that would object to giving up multiple assets for an unknown entity but I'm a believer in Ja Morant and would roll the dice. Could we make a real play at the pick/him if we gave up DSJr, Kevin Knox, Damyean Dotson, a pick swap for next year and maybe a middling first round pick (CHA?) in this draft that we could acquire by absorbing a bad contract? I'd even take Chandler Parson's contract into space, who had been a malcontent all last season and even demanded a trade at one point. Is that enough to get it done? And does Ja Morant fit with RJ Barrett?