Ja Morant
Morant is a starting guard for Portland who shares ball handling with Lillard. One regular-season game is all we have, and it was a blowout in which he played only 23 minutes.
Role
Per NBC Sports and Yahoo, Portland's opening-night starters on Oct. 21 were Morant, Lillard, Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara and Donovan Clingan. In that 124-83 win over Phoenix, Morant played 23 minutes and scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, with 8 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 turnover. Roundtable reports Morant and Lillard shared the floor for about 11:26, and coach Micah Nori staggered their minutes. Neither played in the fourth quarter. That is one blowout, so it says little about a typical minutes load. I found no report on back-to-back rest plans or on a firm minutes target. Last season we hold only 2 games and 98 minutes, so it is no guide to workload.
Morant's downhill speed opens up perimeter looks for Lillard, and Lillard's shooting gives defenses a reason to respect the floor, which Morant hasn't reliably supplied. Ripcity Project praised his opener: a game-high +33, with efficient shooting, unselfish passing and defensive effort. The staggered minutes also give him stretches running the offense without Lillard.
Nori told The Athletic's Jason Quick that starting two undersized guards who aren't elite defenders doesn't make sense, and he named Jrue Holiday as the more logical partner for either one. RealGM notes the two have overlapping skill sets, wanting the ball and being defensive liabilities. In the preseason opener Nori called the pairing "rusty" and "clunky," and the two combined for five turnovers. Heavy said that game settled nothing. Staggering also caps how many minutes the two share, and Morant played only 23 in the opener. NBC Sports also flagged defensive concerns that could force further staggering.
Where analysts split
The open question is whether the Morant and Lillard starting pairing holds up, or whether Nori staggers them more or moves one to the bench. Coverage after the opener (Yahoo, Roundtable) reads staggered minutes as a workable compromise, while the pre-opener Nori comments cast doubt on the pairing itself. NBC Sports also noted that offseason reports had him possibly coming off the bench. I read no analyst projecting a specific minutes number.
Injury: Out: assessed avoid
Grade 2 hamstring strain, expected out ~4 weeks
Team announced a Grade 2 left hamstring strain with an expected four-week absence and a given return date of Dec 1, so he should be sat/dropped from lineups through that window.
What would change this: Any update on his return timeline or practice participation as the return date approaches.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
Others at PG
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