Trail Blazers create logjam at point guard with Ja Morant trade

The Portland Trail Blazers are taking a gamble that Ja Morant can return to form with their team. They've also added a fourth pricey point guard to their roster.

Morant's rollercoaster career with the Memphis Grizzlies ended Monday when the team sent him to Rip City for forwards Jerami Grant and Kris Murray. With Morant on board, expect the Blazers to make a move involving at least one of their other three point guards.

Jrue Holiday may be odd man out in Portland

Morant is due $42.2M in 2026-27 and $44.9M in 2027-28. That's an expensive gamble for a player who saw the court for only 79 games over the last three seasons and whose shooting numbers severely declined, making just 29 percent of his three-pointers since 2023.

He's also joining a team that already has 22-year-old point guard Scoot Henderson and franchise icon Damian Lillard, returning from a torn Achilles tendon. That may mean that Jrue Holiday and his $34.8M contract (plus a player option for $37.2M) may be trade bait.

At 6-foot-4, Holiday is big enough to play on the wing, but Lillard and Morant are both small point guards. Henderson is 6-foot-3 with a 6-foot-9 wingspan, though he'd be undersized as a shooting guard. It would be difficult to give minutes to all four guards without making the Blazers quite vulnerable on defense.

Portland Trail Blazers have ammunition for another move

Taking on Morant's big salary didn't hurt Portland's payroll much, since they ditched Grant's huge deal at the same time. Toumani Camara and Shaedon Sharpe are on reasonable long-term deals, All-Star Deni Avdija is downright cheap at $25M for two years and potential extensions for Henderson and Donovan Clingan are years away from kicking in.

Holiday is the obvious trade candidate, not just due to fit, but because his salary can match a high-priced player. Portland has two pick swaps with the Milwaukee Bucks, in 2028 and 2030, which could be very appealing as the Bucks go into a post-Giannis Antetokounmpo rebuild. They could also try to move Holiday for multiple players, ideally on expiring deals, or complete a much-rumored move for the Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown.

It's simply hard to imagine the Blazers would go into the season with such a glut of point guards, especially with Lillard and Morant both needing to reacquaint themselves with the NBA. Hoping Morant returns to All-Star form may be a worthy gamble, but it can't be the end of Portland's off-season machinations.