It was difficult to evaluate the Portland Trail Blazers' blockbuster trade with the Memphis Grizzlies for Ja Morant when it first went down. Not only was it shocking that Portland made the trade for Morant, but the fact that he was joining a backcourt logjam led many to wonder whether there would be some follow-up move by Portland to balance out this roster, making better sense of this trade.
Jrue Holiday was one player immediately believed to be a more logical trade candidate, though Portland shot down those rumors, signaling to teams that Morant's arrival doesn't change the availability of Holiday.
Barring another unforeseen trade, Portland in all likelihood will head into the 2026-27 season with Morant as its headline addition, with their only moves coming on the margins, particularly bringing in more frontcourt depth. That raises concerns about Morant's long-term fit with this young core.
Ja Morant is a poor fit with the Blazers' young core
The priority for Portland should've been to build off Deni Avdija's All-Star season, giving him a full summer to recover from a lingering back injury and hopefully bringing in more shooting to complement his growing game as a point forward.
The Morant deal was costly for Portland in other aspects outside of the actual assets surrendered (Kris Murray and Jerami Grant). Not only are they bringing in a 30 percent three-point shooter to shrink the floor for Avdija and take the ball out of his hands, but Morant's contract -- owed a total of $87 million over the next two years -- also complicates retaining Portland's newest All-Star.
The Blazers did a poor job of giving themselves more financial flexibility to eventually renegotiate and extend Avdija. Still, it's good that they at least did something to attempt to raise this team's ceiling. As currently constructed, even with internal improvement, Portland's young core was never going to catch up to the Western Conference juggernauts like the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder. Morant is at least a step towards closing that gap in terms of overall talent.
Blazers enter 2026-27 with backcourt questions
There are concerning unanswered questions regarding this roster and a backcourt that has only gotten more complicated. It's only harder to make sense of the deal after seeing Portland didn't have a follow-up move to address their lack of wing depth, whether that meant trading Holiday, Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, or someone else entirely.
It does make one thing clear: the Blazers continue to play the long game, making this a transitional 2026-27 season. This year will have to be dedicated to evaluating and sorting out that messy backcourt, something that's unfortunately gotten even more difficult following Sharpe's torn meniscus.
The Blazers had the right idea with this trade. They didn't make an aggressive, all-in move to sacrifice their promising future just to have a ceiling that still isn't at the level of a contender. From that standpoint, it's hard to view this deal as disastrous.
Do the risks of hindering Avdija's development and potentially causing him entering 2028 free agency justify the bet on Morant's return to form? What about the lost defensive identity that comes from an undersized backcourt of Morant and Damian Lillard?
Again, more questions than answers for first-year head coach Micah Nori to sort out.
The backcourt storyline alone makes Portland one of the most compelling teams to monitor as the season progresses. While it's too early to say definitively whether the Morant trade was worthwhile, our stance as the trade dust settles (with no follow-up move by Portland) is this: right idea, wrong player.
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