The Portland Trail Blazers are set for their season opener at home against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, with a 7 pm PT tip-off at the Moda Center. The immediate question first-year head coach Micah Nori is faced with is: Who starts?
Recent intel from Andscape's Marc Spears suggests it could be Ja Morant who gets the short end of the stick, coming off the bench for Portland in that sixth man role.
"A major newcomer to the Blazers is two-time NBA All-Star guard Ja Morant, the former Memphis Grizzlies star who has been riddled by injuries and off-court drama in recent seasons. Due to the backcourt logjam, Morant is expected to come off the bench," Spears writes.
Will Ja Morant actually come off the bench for Micah Nori's Blazers?
That's what we previously would've guessed to be the case as well. The main reason being a report from The Athletic's Jason Quick in early October where Nori was questioning the backcourt fit between Damian Lillard and Morant.
"Nori said that starting Morant and Lillard doesn't make sense. Both are undersized, and both have never excelled on the defensive end. The more analytically sound option would be to start Holiday — a bigger guard who is an exceptional defender — and have either Morant or Lillard come off the bench."
However, there's been some conflicting reports in that starting lineup decision. Blazers insider Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report said on Bluesky that Nori "strongly hinted" the five that started against the Golden State Warriors in preseason -- Morant, Lillard, Camara, Avdija, and Clingan -- would be the same as the season opener against the Suns.
The two important things to note in these reports are Highkin's use of "stronly hinted" and Spears' use of the word "expected." Nothing has been made official yet by Nori.
Something to monitor as well is the short-term injury to Deni Avdija, who is currently listed as questionable for the season opener due to right ankle soreness. Should Avdija be unable to suit up, Nori could elect to slide Holiday into that starting five, and this wouldn't even be a dilemma for the time being.
Still, the fact that there are already these conflicting rumors suggests this could be something he has to experiment with himself as the season continues to progress.
Another more important thing to look at in this game against Phoenix is who closes it. Starting units can oftentimes get blown out of proportion when it's actually who closes that's far more telling.
Even if Morant does start with a healthy Avdija, Nori could turn to Holiday in more crunch-time moments, at least early on, over Morant. I can't get past the Quick report of him questioning the fit alongside Lillard, especially when those are all valid concerns Nori should be raising in the first place.
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