He’s not coming off the bench

Sharpe is going to be playing some wing minutes along with Jrue. Ja is a hedge against Dame’s old age and injury history

I think this year will be fine as another development year and figure out what Ja can do. But without another trade the fit is not good at all.

I really don’t know how the team can fix trying to give Scoot, Ja, Dame, Shaedon, Jrue all adequate minutes. It just doesn’t work mathematically. And Ja/Dame/Shaedon are terrible defenders, and Scoot is only okay as a defender (and that’s being generous).

Ideally, despite Dame being that guy, I’d want him coming off the bench for a starting lineup of:

• Ja
• Jrue
• Toumani
• Deni
• Clingan

Which has a lot of defensive versatility and should be a passable offense. But I doubt Dame comes off the bench unless he looks incredibly washed. Barring a trade that moves someone like Shaedon for another quality ³⁄₄ I don’t think this team has the right positional chemistry to make much noise this year.

Ja is not coming off the bench…

Portland’s guard rotation makes no sense. How will they find min for all these guys?

Yall about to find out how good Deni can be off ball when he’s not forced to be literally the team’s only guard and getting doubled anytime he crosses halfcourt.

Bro is about to feast on open 3’s, back door cuts, and catch and drives

Ja being healthy is an oxymoron at this point.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

I predict this will not be the last time I go “Ja Morant is on the Blazers?”

Ja will fit in Portland like OJ and the glove

I think he’ll drop 30-35 in his first game, everyone on Reddit will make fun of those who said he was washed, he’ll get injured, the conversation on Reddit will swing back the other way, and in the end, he’ll be just fine and a valuable contributor that will become a trade target in the future.

He’s not their de-facto leader, if he’s smart he’ll be taking a back seat and doing what’s asked of him

All I know is if he turns it around and has a great season the revisionist takes in here are gonna drive me fucking nuts lol

One flagrant foul from any other teammate, the media dubs that teammate with Ja and the whole team as jailblazers 2.0

IDK about Ja specifically, but I just can’t see the vision behind grouping these 4 guards. You’ve got Dame an undersized ball dominant guard coming off a serious injury over age 35; Ja coming off injury plagued years as an undersized guard who relied on crazy athleticism that appears to be rapidly leaving him; Jrue with a lot of miles on the legs at age 36; and Scoot a borderline undersized guard who relies on athleticism but is still young enough to believe in the long term development plan. The only real positives I can see are Dame is on a pretty affordable contract and Ja is one year from being a valuable expiring contract they might unload in a trade.

I think the fit will be bad. Have a hard time seeing how it’s anything but passable.

Ja doesn’t add value as a shooter (on the court), off ball mover, or defender. The team already struggled with floor spacing as is.

A backcourt of him and Dame is untenable defensively and neither have an awesome history of playing off ball. Plus I feel it kind of takes the wind out of the sails of the Dame return, which is lame.

This would also seemingly push Jrue to the bench or to the 3, where you lose a lot of his value add as a physical, defensive guard.

It also take minutes and opportunity away from Scoot. While he hasn’t shown a ton in the NBA, mostly due to injuries, you’re doing your franchise a disservice by at least not seeing what you have in him, especially with the extension decision coming up.

You also force Deni into less of an on ball role, which he just thrived in. He’s also not an amazing off-ball player given that his rim pressure is his best asset.

Sharpe seems to get really buried in all of this. I think Sharpe kind of is what he is at this point, but still you’re not helping see if he has more to show. And worst case you’re contributing to further hurt his value on an already seemingly gross contract.

Lastly, Clingans screen setting should help Ja. But Clingan is not at all a vertical threat and definitely not your traditional pick and roll rim runner, so that doesn’t even add a dimension. Rob Will should add more value here at least.

Last year the Blazers had a somewhat feisty defense. Adding Dame and Ja to that, I don’t see how it doesn’t take a big step back.

Best case, the crazy depth of ball handlers is enough to have a consistent offensive engine for 48 minutes, that can especially beat up on second units. The combined rim pressure of Ja, Scoot, and Deni, shooting from Dame and Sharpe, cutting/corner shooting from Camara, plus whatever offense Clinigan develops, could maybe develop into a solid offense. Meanwhile Clingan, Rob Williams, Camara, and Jrue will need to put forth a Herculean effort to hold this defense together. The lack of another real decent wing/forward defender is really tough to make work rotationally.

I hate this move for a lot of reasons, but the big one is is it seems like it hurts a lot of potential future development from the existing young core, while not adding any legitimate equity to being more competitive in the near term.

Morant over/under on games before off-court issues and locker room vibes take over? I’ll set it at 30 or around Xmas.

Not well

Ja, Jrue, Scoot, Sharpe, Dame, and Deni all finished in the top 75th percentile in both PnR ball-handler and isolation frequency. I really do not know how they’re going to get all 6 of those guys the touches and minutes they need, and when they inevitably share the court I don’t know what they’re going to do offensively with whoever is off the ball.

Ja’s going to need to either show some semblance of off-ball ability (which he hasn’t up to this point) or return to his all-NBA form and force everyone else off ball, neither of which seems particularly likely

So at some point they gotta trade some guards right

Who is Memphis Ja? Are there other versions of Ja?

Even if he is not 100% healthy, the man is starting.

Who else would start overhim? He is the PG..

Ja isn’t coming from the bench

Sharpe is gonna get traded

Ja Morant is a bust. Dudes either always injured or getting in trouble with the law. He’ll never be a leader of a team or carry a team to a finals. Just another “what if” player

We were 28th in three pointers last year.

Ja can collapse the defense towards the rim and he’ll have options in Clingan or kicking back out.

My starting five is Ja / Dame / Deni / Camara / Clingan

Ay P they said I gotta come off the bench

He’ll aim to be an explosive fit.

I almost forgot he was on the blazers ngl

He just gats to have some fun…Then he will be ok

Bazooka bling teeth will do just fine

He’ll fit in just fine sitting on the bench in street clothes and that ridiculous grill when he gets hurt 10 games into the season because he clearly hasn’t put in any work to add some muscle to his frame, yet again.

I will say despite the fit I like the uber depth in case (aka, when they happen) of injuries. We go down two guards and suddenly the minutes sort themselves out. Does solve our need for shooting and a power forward (LMA I MISS YOU) but I do see the redundancy having value.

If Dame is healthy, are they really starting him and Ja together?

Hes going in guns blazing

I’m not a Ja guy, but I expect Portland to make the playoffs

I think the fit is strange. How are you going to start 2 small guards who are defensive liabilities? Deni needs to surrounded by shooters, Ja likes to get to the hoop and is not a good shooter. The Blazers have to many guards and not enough shooting and length.

He needs a team where he can ball but Portland is crazy now

Poorly

He’s a flippable asset for the Private Equity Blazers.

Horribly and the blazers will take a massive step back unless there’s significant roster change. You cannot play Ja and Lillard together for significant minutes. Makes Luka and reaves look like the grit and grind grizzlies 

I think he’ll put up like 19/2/7 with below average shooting percentages

I totally forgot he got traded to the Blazers

It’s going to be a disaster. Ja is cooked.

Last night I had dream that the Blazers won the finals this year with Dame having a big 4th quarter in the last game to help lead them to the win. But Ja won finals mvp because he was a monster the entire series.

So what I’m saying is obviously I’m clairvoyant and he’s about to have a historic season at guard. I’m not delusional at all. (Please let this dream come true, I need this as a Blazers fan from the annoying off season we’ve suffered)

Gun to my head? He’ll do fine. Probably.

It just feels so inevitable that one of their three gurads will be on the Heat by February. My money is on Holiday.

I feel so bad for Nori

not well. i still don’t get why they traded for ja the fit seems so strange, but i feel like they’re planning on trading jrue soon which is why they felt comfortable trading for ja

Blazers hoping JA bounces back to flip him

When he’s healthy he’s damn good, you bozos just read reddit instead of watching him play. He’s more than a high flyer and will be fine. Maybe Lilliard can mentor him on his J?

Terribly. I expect him to be moved by the deadline.

It’s gonna be terrible! I feel for Portland fans. They have had a bad few months. Ja + El Cheapo

I bet he’ll be pretty fired up and come out guns blazing.

Not good with Lillard and Jrue already on the deal.

I’m not reading anything but the headline, but the answer is “very poorly.” Blazers punted on the season before it even began.

He will have the ball more then Avdija who is a better offensive player, and his presence makes Dame useless (if Dame somehow manages to be like 90% of what he was before the injury, he’ll have to be the spacer because he’s the only one of their “stars” who can shoot)

We might to see the absolute worse defensive backcourt of all time, they may make what Dame/CJ, or Dame/Simons were look like a Gary Payton/Jason Kidd backcourt

He’s going to join a local gun club and smoke all our artisan weed. He’s going to be fine. 

If it’s 2023 and Ja/Jrue/Dame/Scoot comprise your PG rotation, your mind explodes.

Thing is, that was just 3Y ago! Maybe they play well enough to manage a 4-head monster (maybe Scoot finally turns positive). The injury depth alone ought to help.

But Ja needs to become a good defender, as he’s slipped severely.

He won’t 

Some version of this post had been posted nonstop all summer lol. Feels like reddit bots looking to boost engagement

Ja warrant fits in perfectly with the jail blazers. Might even be the first to get arrested

Ja puts the “Ja” in Jailblazers.

pretty poorly the Blazers seemed to haved stayed the same or gotten slightly worse in a very competitive conference