Memphis just traded the most electrifying guard in basketball to Portland, where Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday were already standing there waiting for someone to hand them the ball, and nobody is asking the obvious question.
According to ESPN, the Trail Blazers sent Jerami Grant, Kris Murray, and $1 million in cash to Memphis for Ja Morant and roughly $87 million remaining on his contract. Portland now has Morant, Lillard, Holiday, Scoot Henderson, and Shaedon Sharpe. Five guards. Three of whom expect to start. This is not roster construction. This is a group chat that lost a bet and nobody is admitting it yet.
https://twitter.com/trailblazers/status/2071760708233212327
Lillard posted a social media welcome to Morant, and it reads like a man who hasn't had the conversation about shot attempts yet. Damian Lillard deferring has never happened before in over a decade in this league. Dame is the ball. Dame IS the offense. Asking him to play off the ball at 35 on a rebuilt Achilles isn't a plan; it's a prayer.
Morant isn't wired for the passenger seat either. He averaged 22.4 career points and has never once been described as a complementary piece. His last two stretches (23.3 points in 2024-25, then a brutal 19.5 on 41% shooting in just 20 appearances last season) don't suggest a guy who's mellowed into a secondary role. We already wrote about why Morant had negative trade value before this deal. Portland did it anyway.
Then there's the Kendrick Perkins problem. Perk called Morant "one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel — he's on his last shot." Rough eulogy for a 26-year-old. But 79 games across three seasons, injuries and suspensions combined, backs the concern. This is the guy Portland is building around. Alongside a player coming off an Achilles tear.
The three-guard surplus is the second-biggest issue. Scoot Henderson, the No. 3 overall pick from 2023, is the clearest casualty. New head coach Micah Nori already dropped the hammer on Holiday trade rumors. So Portland's solving the logjam by not solving it. Three guards who all want to be the alpha, and the worst three-point shooter on a team that needs shooters sits at 23.5% from deep last season, 31.1% for his career.
The counterargument is honest. Milwaukee broke Lillard. The Bucks experiment stripped him to nothing: traded, unwanted, Achilles torn. Coming home was humbling in ways 13 MVP-candidate seasons never were. If that changed how he sees his role, if he can actually operate off the ball at 35, this backcourt could be something. The bet Portland is making is on Lillard's evolution, not Morant's. Memphis's complete teardown sent a cautionary signal nobody in Portland is quoting right now.
Good luck with the group chat, guys.
