Micah Nori will immediately have a difficult decision to make in who starts for the Portland Trail Blazers this season. Hopefully that becomes clearer in training camp and preseason. But what's arguably even more important, and overlooked in this backcourt logjam, is who brings the ball up for Portland?
There are four realistic options between Damian Lillard, Ja Morant, Jrue Holiday, and Deni Avdija. Scoot Henderson has fallen out of the conversation due to his unclear path to an eventual starting spot as well as his underrated improvement as more of an off-ball 3-and-D guard.
In all likelihood, this will be something that Nori continues to experiment with throughout the season. There are simply too many unknown variables between Lillard's return to form and whether Morant will truly benefit from a change of scenery.
You'd like to think that at least one of these backcourt additions will take on a significant playmaking role, if only because Portland led the league in turnovers, led by the playmaking duo of Avdija and Holiday.
That's the balance in determining how to utilize these new arrivals. On one hand, something clearly needs to change to become contenders. On the other, you don't want to disrupt the momentum of a young Blazers core that just returned to the playoffs on the back of Avdija's first All-Star appearance.
How much of these offseason additions are complementary to Avdija's game and how much will hinder that continued growth? That should be at the forefront of the Blazers' answer for who should be bringing up the ball to initiate the offense.
Blazers need to continue building around Deni Avdija as a point-forward
The Blazers are more likely to make a deep playoff run because Avdija becomes an All-NBA level player than they are thanks to Morant returning to All-Star form. They need to double down on the Avdija point forward experiment, because that's what's ultimately going to truly separate the Blazers from the majority of teams around the league.
Few can replicate the size and physicality matchup advantage Portland has with Avdija bringing up the ball. That also brings up another question, though: how much of a window does Nori have to experiment?
Under Chauncey Billups and Tiago Splitter, Portland did a great job of embracing the growing pains, particularly the turnovers, that came with Avdija running the show. Nori may not feel as though he has a similar freedom due to the nature of his deal.
He finally has an NBA head coaching role, and deservedly so after 28 years of experience. But the one he finally landed was even called a "slap in the face to our value" by National Basketball Coaches Association president J.B. Bickerstaff.
Nori's contract is only guaranteed for this season, with team options on the second and third years of his deal. Does that short leash impact his decision-making when it comes to living with Avdija's turnovers for the betterment of the long-term outlook of this team?
Lillard and Holiday could probably lead this team into the postseason, but would that come at the expense of their young core? Hopefully, the two timelines don't conflict and the answers between what is in Nori and this team's short-term interest also align with their long-term trajectory.
The easiest path to that would be Avdija building off his All-Star season, which is a possibility given his impressive year-to-year growth, as well as the fact that he was largely derailed by a lingering back injury at the end of last year.
Fully healthy with another year of internal growth, Portland just needs Avdija to clean up his turnovers to become the best playmaking option for this team both now and going forward.
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