In some ways, Jrue Holiday is the constant in the Portland Trail Blazers' Ja Morant experiment.
If the Morant gamble pays off to an extent where he'd be considered more important to keep than an aging Holiday, Portland could then look to dump its veteran.
If things turn south to the point where having Morant on the team hurts more than it helps, then they can move on from Morant and keep around Holiday to continue aiding a young core.
Either way, Portland seriously needs to consider trading one of the two at some point. They could even be forced to do so financially, that is if they want to make space to negotiate and extend All-Star Deni Avdija.
While it was in Portland's best long-term interest to finally part ways with Grant, they decided to take on a more expensive player in Morant rather than using Grant as a salary dump. That has only made the looming Avdija extension talks that much more challenging, going against what should've been the primary reason behind trading Grant in the first place.
Blazers need to see if Ja Morant helps or hurts this team
Now that dilemma they faced between likely having to trade one of Grant or Holiday has quietly turned into the same question surrounding Holiday or Morant. With that being the case, it could ultimately be in Portland's interest to start Morant over Holiday. That gives them a chance to evaluate whether Morant is their long-term answer at the position, seeing as they already know what they have in the two-time champion Holiday.
It's even more important to give Morant that increased role because of concerns regarding his fit. His defensive and floor-spacing limitations make it more difficult to be that role player, so it could prove difficult to be a complementary piece.
There's a risk in Morant's arrival potentially hindering Portland's young core as he takes away touches, shrinks the floor, and requires more defensive help. That was the true cost of this trade as opposed to the limited assets actually sent over to Memphis.
Factor in Morant's injury history, and you have a whole lot of question that need to be answered in Portland's backcourt.
It makes for an exciting season to look forward to with the amount of talent they get to sort out. It also makes it important to see what they have in Morant to decide whether he's truly part of the long-term plans with Avdija, or actually getting in the way of it.
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