Ja Morant is with the Memphis Grizzlies for their European trip, but his name continues to surface in trade rumors ahead of the NBA’s deadline next month.

Morant said Wednesday he will “live with it” should the Grizzlies decide to move him as reports surfaced he prefers the Miami Heat as a destination.

He also denied there is friction with Memphis coach Tuomas Iisalo, who pointed to Morant’s health — and not their relationship — as the reason he’s not in the lineup.

“We are not in the business of commenting on random internet reports,” Iisalo said. “He’s progressing in the practices.”

Sidelined since Jan. 2, Morant, 26, has a right calf contusion and it’s unclear when he’ll play his 19th game of the season.

The Grizzlies travel to Berlin, then London, to play the Orlando Magic. The games are scheduled for Thursday and Sunday.

Memphis suspended Morant for one game in November after an argument with Iisalo. Morant is listed as questionable for Thursday’s game in Berlin. He said Wednesday he and Iisalo are “cool.”

“I don’t think we’ve had too many ups and downs. That’s just y’all on the outside looking in thinking that,” Morant said.

Morant’s current contract — a five-year, $197 million deal — expires after the 2027-28 season. He’s eligible for a three-year, $178 million extension next summer.

Without signing him to an extension, any team taking on Morant at the February trade deadline would owe him the balance of his existing deal: the remainder of his $39.4 million salary for the current season, $42.1 million next season and $44.9 million for 2027-28.

The No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 draft, Morant is playing fewer minutes this season — averaging a career-low 28.3 to go with 19 points and 7.6 assists per game.

In 325 career games, he has averages of 22.4 points, 7.4 assists, 4.6 rebounds and one steal per game.

–Field Level Media

Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd says Cooper Flagg is “built differently.”

The first-year sensation from Duke has proved that ahead of the Mavericks’ encounter against the visiting Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night.

Flagg leads all rookies in scoring with an average of 19.13 points per game, just ahead of his former Duke teammate, Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel, who is at 19.05.

Flagg scored 27 points to guide Dallas to a 113-105 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday. He absorbed regular double-team blitzes from the Nets in an impressive return to form after he had been quelled (11 points) in a blowout loss to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.

“He’s never going to be afraid,” Kidd said of Flagg. “He’s built differently.

“I loved the response because the last game wasn’t up to his standards. So the bounce-back game for him just shows how he can correct things quickly. Being able to have the ball and make the decisions and be double-teamed, I thought his patience was great.”

“We all know he’s special. Just understanding we never take anybody for granted, but (with) his skill set, his maturity at the age of 19, he’s leading this team.”

No less impressive, Dallas’ Klay Thompson matched his season high with six 3-pointers in an 18-point haul off the bench. Flagg had just turned 5 when Thompson made his NBA debut with the Golden State Warriors in 2011-12.

Thompson, 35, heaped praise on his much younger teammate.

“You’ve seen it with each passing week how comfortable he is with the ball in his hands, especially at the end of the game,” Thompson said. “Mavs fans are very lucky to watch him nightly and will be for such a long time.”

Thompson’s fifth 3-pointer against Brooklyn was the 2,800th of his career as he became the fifth player to reach the mark, after Stephen Curry, James Harden, Ray Allen and Damian Lillard.

If Thompson hits a trio of three-pointers against Denver, he will tie Lillard for fourth place with 2,804.

“That’s cool — something I don’t take for granted,” Thompson said. “Honestly, a pretty sweet position to be in. I’m definitely going to be excited when I do accomplish that feat. That’s pretty sweet.”

In some positive news for Dallas, Anthony Davis won’t require surgery on the ligament damage he has in his left hand. Davis will be re-evaluated in six weeks, per ESPN, but he still will be sidelined against the Nuggets.

The Mavericks’ P.J. Washington (right ankle sprain) and Brandon Williams (illness) are questionable, while Max Christie (illness) is day-to-day.

Denver is dealing with a plethora of injuries, headlined by superstar center Nikola Jokic’s absence due to a hyperextended left knee.

A next-man-up mentality is required in these trying times — and was delivered on Tuesday when the Nuggets dug deep to defeat the Pelicans 122-116 in New Orleans.

Jamal Murray returned from a two-game absence due to an ankle injury and illness to pair 35 points with nine assists. Western Conference Player of the Week Peyton Watson scored 31 points, highlighted by a tie-breaking jumper with 39.4 seconds left.

Murray’s last assist was his best — a sizzling pass through traffic to Aaron Gordon for a game-sealing dunk with 10.8 seconds left.

“What Jamal’s doing is … look, if there’s guys having better years out there, bring it to my attention,” Denver coach David Adelman said. “He’s been incredible.

“It’s funny (when) you go through this. It’s easy to remember the Philly game (overtime win over the 76ers last week), but to look at this whole thing, we’ve won four out of five games with a lot of different lineups against some good teams. … Just a really quality win going into a tough back-to-back.”

–Field Level Media

Two teams trending in the wrong direction will match up when the New Orleans Pelicans host the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night.

The Pelicans have the worst record in the NBA and have lost 11 of their last 12 games. New Orleans squandered an 11-point lead Tuesday night in a 122-116 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

After a surge in December, the Nets have lost seven of their last eight games. They are last in the NBA in rebounds per game (40.1) and second-to-last in field-goal percentage (44.6).

“So the shots aren’t necessarily going in or not. I don’t really care. Gotta take good shots. Gotta shoot them with conviction,” Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said after his team’s fourth straight loss, 113-105 to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.

“We got to create them with conviction, and then when you’re in position, go and attack the glass because we have guys like Day’Day (Day’Ron Sharpe) and Mike (Michael Porter Jr.) and Nic (Claxton), Noah (Clowney), they can go fight for seconds, and that’s a mentality we need to have.”

Porter has been a big bright spot for the Nets and is one of the biggest names being talked about as the trade deadline approaches (Feb. 5). He leads Brooklyn with an average of 25.9 points a game is shooting 49.1% from the field.

Cam Thomas has played in only 15 games while dealing with various ailments, and rookie guard Drake Powell made his second start of the season against Dallas, finishing with 10 points.

Seventeen turnovers and poor shooting — 24.3% from 3-point range — hurt the Nets vs. the Mavericks.

“We kept fighting, which that’s the team that I want to see, a team that doesn’t stop fighting. What we learned from this game is the turnovers in transition and then the fast-break points,” Fernandez said. “Some of those turnovers created fast-break points.”

New Orleans trailed Denver by two in the final minute but missed two shots at the rim and gave up an easy dunk to the Nuggets with 10.8 seconds left to seal it.

“If we make shots down the stretch, it’s a different story,” the Pelicans’ Saddiq Bey said, per NOLA.com. “There are no moral victories in this league. It’s an unforgiving league. We have to figure it out. We’ll figure it out.”

New Orleans coach James Borrego said: “They made some tough shots; we had some good looks at the rim. We’ve got to keep working on our execution down the stretch.”

Zion Williamson averages a team-best 22.3 points for the Pelicans. Trey Murphy III, who had 31 points vs. the Nuggets, contributes 21.9 points per game.

The Pelicans have received strong play from rookies Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen. Fears is the only Pelican player to play in all 42 games and is fourth among rookies at 14.3 points a game, while Queen is sixth at 12.8.

This will be the second and final matchup of the season between the Nets and Pelicans. Brooklyn won 119-101 at home on Dec. 6.

–Field Level Media

The Utah Jazz were left with both resentment and resolve after suffering the worst loss in club history.

The Jazz hope to keep channeling the latter during Wednesday night’s visit to the Chicago Bulls.

Utah moved past its 55-point home loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday by opening a five-game road trip with a win on Monday.

The Jazz limited the Cleveland Cavaliers to 44.6% shooting from the field during a 123-112 victory Monday. The Jazz will be rested when they aim to hound the Bulls, who are coming off Tuesday’s 119-113 loss in Houston.

“It’s a constant progress,” Utah’s Lauri Markkanen said of the defense. “We’ve shown we can do it — it’s just about doing it consistently. (Monday) was a good night to show that we can do it against a good team. We just have to keep working, watching film, and getting better.”

While guard Keyonte George sparked the Jazz with 32 points vs. Cleveland — 28 more than he scored against Charlotte — Utah also reversed its fortunes behind an improved interior defense. Center Jusuf Nurkic contributed 11 points and 17 rebounds in his return from a toe injury and is eager to bring consistency after playing in just seven of the past 12 games.

“Nurk continues to be one of the unsung guys on our team,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “What he does for our group with his physicality, not just on the glass, but also the big plays he made around the basket defensively. And then he continues to help us create the advantage with his screening.”

As for the Bulls, with playmaker Coby White (right calf injury management) out of the lineup in Houston and top scorer Josh Giddey (hamstring) out indefinitely, the team still produced five double-figure scorers on Tuesday.

Guard Tre Jones paced Chicago — which lost for the fourth time in the past five games — with a career-best 34 points on 11-for-12 shooting from the floor. That included five 3-pointers, also a career best. Matas Buzelis followed with 19 points and has at least 15 in seven consecutive games.

White is expected to play Wednesday in the second leg of a back-to-back set. While his return figures to offer a spark, the Bulls also hope for a bounce-back effort from counterpart Ayo Dosunmu, who runs the second unit and had just seven points on 3-of-8 shooting against Houston.

“He’s very, very good in the open court, but I also think there’s opportunities — with the way he’s shooting the ball — where he can’t be turning down shots,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “He needs to take those. So the decision-making on when to shoot, when to pass, when to drive — all of that stuff needs to continue to get better.”

Utah would sweep the season series with a victory after outscoring visiting Chicago 150-147 in double overtime on Nov. 16. Markkanen scored 47 points against his former team while George drilled the game-winning 3-pointer with two seconds left in double OT.

White scored 27 to pace Chicago.

The Bulls have won five of the past six games in the series, with Nikola Vucevic posting a double-double in four straight games vs. the Jazz while averaging 19.3 points and 11 rebounds.

–Field Level Media