The Portland Trail Blazers acquired Ja Morant, sending Jerami Grant and Kris Murray to the Memphis Grizzlies in return. Portland plans to roll out a starting backcourt of Morant and Damian Lillard. But where does that leave Jrue Holiday?
The Blazers suddenly have an extremely crowded backcourt, which could potentially make Holiday the odd man out.
Ja Morant trade makes Jrue Holiday more expendable in Portland
The silver lining is that his unselfish play, positional versatility, and two-way impact without the ball make Holiday a seamless fit anywhere. Portland could even elect to play small ball with him at the small forward, and it wouldn't be a matchup problem against the majority of teams.
Perhaps the bigger question mark is the Blazers' financial situation, particularly after trading Grant for a more expensive star in Morant.
Portland has a looming Deni Avdija problem on its hands. He's the best contract in basketball, but the team-friendly and front-loaded nature of the deal actually complicates a future extension. Because teams extend off that final-year figure, Portland must first renegotiate, then extend Avdija.
Putting themselves in a better position to do so should've been a top priority for Portland this offseason, guiding every decision. That doesn't appear to be the case in this questionable trade for Morant.
Blazers can no longer shed Jerami Grant's contract to renegotiate and extend Deni Avdija
Ja will immediately become the highest-paid player on Portland's roster, making $42.2 million next season and $45.9 million in 2027-28. We always said that Portland should trade either Grant or Holiday this summer to give themselves more financial flexibility. Still, the idea was to get an expiring or more manageable contract in return to help extend Avdija when the time comes.
The Blazers did finally find an avenue to dump Grant without having to attach draft capital to incentivize a team to take on his contract. However, the Grizzlies are likely saying the same thing about Morant.
Portland views him as a low-risk, high-reward move to see whether Morant benefits from a change of scenery and can get back to his peak. But while they may not have paid for this trade in terms of assets surrendered, they certainly paid more than their fair share financially.
That only further complicates their financial situation to retain Avdija long-term. As a result, it could make Holiday even more available.
Trading him would hurt in the short term, but could be a calculated step back to improve Portland's future outlook. The Blazers realistically aren't going to contend next season, and moving Holiday could help solve both their backcourt logjam and, most importantly, Avdija extension problem.
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