It's genuinely impressive the Portland Trail Blazers managed to win 42 games last season with such a flawed offense. They led the league in turnvoers per game (16.5) by a wide margin. Three point shooting wasn't much better either, ranking 28th at 34.3 percent.
This Blazers offense struggled to both otpimize and maxijmize possessions. While the Ja Morant trade won't help the shooting department, he'll more than make up for than on offense with the playmaking boost.
Ja Morant brings much-needed playmaking to Blazers' offense
Shooting suddenly isn't as problematic as it once was in Portland. Damian Lillard's return is the primary reason why, as he's already proven he remains among the leagues deadliest snipers. But internal improvement is another overlooked factor, with improvement from players such as Donovan Clingan, Scoot Henderson, and Sidy Cissoko. Not that the Blazers will be an elite shooting team, but their front office does expect to be better in that department this season.
The issue is, these players taking shooting leaps still haven't found that ability to create for themselves or others. Henderson is a willing passer but isn't skilled enough yet to be that primary offensive intiatioir they envisioned him to be. He's taken more of an off-ball role and a backseat in this offensive hiearchy.
Meanwhile, Clingan and Cissoko continue to get better offensively but rely heavily on teammates to set themselves up. The same could even be said of 3-and-D wing Toumani Camara for that matter.
We saw that place a tremendous amount of pressure on Deni Avdija last season. That increased role contributed to an All-Star breakout, but it also limited Portland's ceiling. They were a first-round playoff exit with an offense built around Avdija and only Avdija. Once the Spurs' stout defense honed in on him, it was difficult for Portland to generate any consistent offense.
We've already seen a far less stagnant offenses so far in preseason, and Morant's arrival deserves a ton of credit for that. He's embraced a lessened role, making unselfish plays for others and setting up those more defensive-minded pieces on the court.
Outside of Morant, the Blazers still have some secondary playmaking with Lillard and Holiday. But these are aging veterans nearing the end of their careers -- not a long-term answer to build around Avdija. Henderson has had a strong offseason, but not in the sense of emerging as that co-star. Why not see if Morant can become that?
There’s a nonzero chance he returns to form, but even in the more realistic scenario that he’s nothing more than a role player, that’s still plenty valuable for Portland. Morant will take that playmaking burden off Avdija both now and going forward, helping solve their offensive problems and hopefully resulting in a deeper postseason run this time around.
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