Ja Morant is set to miss at least four weeks after suffering a Grade 2 hamstring strain in Portland's loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, ESPN's Shams Charania reports. This is a brutal loss for the Blazers given how well Morant looked to start the season. But for Portland, this early-season injury is just further confirmation that the decision to keep veteran Jrue Holiday was the right one.
Injuries are piling up around the league, but the Blazers are better equipped to deal with this adversity because of the depth of the backcourt. Holiday looked the part of a potential Sixth Man of the Year early on, and should now slide into the starting backcourt to play alongside Damian Lillard.
That's going to be a downgrade offensively, considering Morant had Portland's offensive efficiency among the highest in the league. But Holiday is more than capable of impacting winning on a similar, if not at times higher, level than Morant thanks to his two-way impact.
The downgrade for Portland doesn't come from its starting lineup switch; it comes from the fact that Micah Nori no longer has this guard rotation at his disposal. It looked like a three-headed monster early on between Morant's playmaking, Lillard's shooting, and Holiday's versatility. Now, it's Holiday's versatility that will be called upon to fill the playmaking void left by Morant.
Blazers already proven right to keep Jrue Holiday
He's essentially the NBA version of the Pokémon Ditto, shapeshifting into whatever player is required that particular night. There's a reason Holiday is a two-time champion, elevating the playoff ceilings in his stops with both the Milwaukee Bucks and later the Boston Celtics.
Blazers general manager Joe Cronin acquired Holiday with the intention to keep him this time around. He's survived countless trade rumors, which grew even louder after the surprising trade for Morant.
But as their hot start to the season proved, Holiday still clearly has a large role to play in this backcourt. That role should only be increased with Morant unfortunately out of the picture until roughly December.
But fortunately for Portland, Holiday is one of the few guards in the league capable of stepping up in that starting role without the Blazers missing a beat. The veteran duo of Lillard and Holiday is still very much a playoff-caliber starting backcourt.
Portland will eventually need Morant to return to raise its ceiling in terms of making a deeper playoff run in the West. But at least for now, they'll be able to stay the course. And it's all because of Cronin's decision to keep Holiday.
We're not even into November yet, and we're already seeing the benefits of this crowded backcourt -- and why the Blazers were right to view it as a strength rather than a problem that needed to be solved this summer.
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