PORTLAND — Ja Morant’s first preseason night in a Trail Blazers uniform was uneven on the stat sheet, but the larger early read inside the building is about his energy. Morant posted eight points, five assists and four turnovers in 19 minutes against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, while Portland saw the pace, rim pressure and engagement it hoped to get after acquiring the 27-year-old this summer.
Key takeaways
- Morant’s preseason debut included eight points, five assists and four turnovers over 19 minutes against Golden State.
- Damian Lillard scored 15 points on 5-for-11 shooting while sharing the starting backcourt with Morant.
- Coach Micah Nori sees Morant as the primary point guard in the two-guard alignment, with Lillard working more often off the ball.
- Both Morant and Lillard recorded two steals, and Portland did not see the anticipated defensive breakdowns against the Warriors.
- Morant appeared in only 20 games last season after playing 50 the year before and nine in 2023-24.
Rust showed, but Portland wants Morant attacking
Morant opened his Portland tenure with the mix expected from a player still regaining game rhythm. He missed a 3-pointer badly in the first half, but also sliced through traffic for a finish at the basket. His speed immediately changed the Blazers’ tempo, giving them a downhill gear they have not regularly had since the days of Damon Stoudamire and Rod Strickland.
There were also forced drives and loose passes. Morant tried to divide double teams and create lanes that were not there, contributing to his four turnovers. Nori called it a matter of playing too fast and being out of sync with new teammates, not a reason to rein in his aggression.
“He was sped up,” Nori said, pointing to timing as part of the issue.
The coach said Morant’s history shows why Portland wants him in the paint. At his best, Nori said, Morant was getting into the lane on roughly 52 percent of his possessions. He got there Wednesday even when the results did not always follow.
“We don’t want to tell him not to go in there,” Nori said. “We don’t want to take away that mentality.”
Portland believes missed reads, erratic jumpers and hurried possessions should improve through repetition. The more consequential question for the franchise is Morant’s health and his mindset after a stretch in which injuries and suspensions have kept him off the floor. His limited availability over the past three seasons also included suspensions tied to conflict with his Memphis coach and league discipline involving guns.
For now, the camp picture has been a positive one. Morant has been consistently upbeat, talkative and involved around the practice facility. Lillard said the happiness does not look performative.
“He has a lot of joy right now,” Lillard said. “He walks around smiling. In practice, he communicates, he’s engaged and invested. You can see that he’s happy with where he is.”
Morant left the locker room after Wednesday’s game before media availability in order to attend a season-ticket-holder event, leaving further explanation of his mood for another time.
The small backcourt begins its experiment
Portland’s decision to start Morant next to Lillard has invited predictable skepticism. Two undersized guards can be targeted defensively, and both have spent much of their careers with the ball. But there was no obvious strain in their first preseason look together.
Nori’s framework is straightforward: Morant is the point guard, Lillard the off guard. In transition, Portland wants any rebounding player other than a center to push the ball, while its centers are instructed to locate Morant for the outlet. The first unit still had possessions in which Lillard handled and Morant stood in the corner, but Lillard welcomed the change of pace when Morant ran the action.
“I’m not having to exert myself as much,” Lillard said.
The Warriors did not expose the pairing in the way critics feared. Morant and Lillard each came away with two steals, and Nori said both guards competed at the point of attack, even if there were moments that needed work.
Lillard has seen this storyline before. He spent eight years in Portland beside another smaller guard, CJ McCollum, and said that partnership regularly faced the same questions.
“Our potential is great,” Lillard said. “People can say what they want, but most haven’t had to go out there and do it. We won, we gave teams problems, and I think this can be similar with Ja.”
Nori began evaluating Morant well before camp, traveling to South Carolina for a June lunch after Portland’s front office made the move. The coach asked for the best version of the guard, then watched how he carried himself throughout the organization rather than only in basketball settings.
Nori said Morant has made a point of greeting staff first and building relationships with people across the facility, from security personnel to chefs and team operations employees. The coach does not expect anyone to be in the same mood every day, but he has found Morant’s competitiveness to be steady.
Less than two weeks before the regular season begins, Portland has not solved every basketball question around its new backcourt. It has, however, come away convinced that Morant still has the burst of a two-time All-Star and has quickly earned trust inside the Blazers’ building.
