The Portland Trail Blazers pulled off one of the more shocking trades of the offseason on Monday, acquiring Ja Morant from the Memphis Grizzlies.
It wasn’t surprising because the Grizzlies moved on from their All-Star point guard; everybody knew that was coming. It was surprising because nobody thought it would be Portland, especially in a deal that didn’t involve any draft picks. Morant was traded for Jerami Grant, Kris Murray, and $1 million in cash.
Part of the reason why nobody pegged the Blazers as a legitimate contender to land Morant was because of how deep they already are at the position. Before the trade, they had a rotation of guards featuring Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, Scoot Henderson, and Shaedon Sharpe, as well as All-Star Deni Avdija, a ball-dominant forward.
With so many guards, the expectation among many has been that Portland could be gearing up to make another trade, potentially at the expense of Holiday.
But according to new head coach Micah Nori, Holiday isn’t going anywhere.
“I know a lot of people think that there are going to be chain reaction trades, and who knows how it is going to go, but Jrue Holiday is a big part of what we’ve got going on,” Nori told The Athletic’s Jason Quick. “And I just want to let him know that I’m going to continue putting him in positions to be successful, and that he’s earned the right to talk to me about what he is comfortable doing.
“There are several ways to create advantage on offense … and when you are guard-oriented, it changes for the better because it creates more options for us because it all goes back to decision makers and ballhandlers,” he added.
Holiday is 36 years old and owed $72 million over the next two seasons. But he’s also a former All-Defensive, championship-winning point guard. If Portland were to put him on the open market, other contenders would almost certainly come calling.
Before Jaylen Brown, who has been linked to Portland for weeks, landed with the Philadelphia 76ers, some were speculating the Blazers might still want to trade for the former Finals MVP even after adding Morant.
But Nori clearly sees the advantage of keeping Holiday around. He’s coming off somewhat of a resurgent year in which he averaged 16.3 points, 6.1 assists, and 4.6 rebounds in 29.4 minutes per game, while shooting 45.1% from the field and 37.8% from deep.
He was the starter last year with Lillard out, and will likely move to the bench now that Morant is in the picture too. But that may also be perfect for a team that views itself as a contender.
Holiday can lead a second unit that also likely features Henderson and Sharpe, creating a potentially lethal bench trio, while Lillard, Morant, Avdija, Toumani Camara, and Donovan Clingan give Portland one of the more balanced starting 5s in the NBA.