Tonight we begin to unravel the puzzle Portland has to assemble on its perimeter rotation. There are four players with similar roles for four spots, and they aren’t particularly compatible with each other. And this could push Ja Morant to the bench. At least that was Marc J. Spears’s expectation for the Andscape portal before revising the article’s lines about the former Memphis Grizzlies star.
Morant has played three of the Blazers’ four preseason games as part of the starting five and has come off the bench in one of them. Judging by his coach’s tendencies, it seems his plan is for him to pair with Damian Lillard in the opening five. That said, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him out of the lineup for a stretch during the season given the experimentation.
Another of the guards involved in this competition for minutes in the Trail Blazers is Scoot Henderson, who yesterday learned that he will be a restricted free agent next summer after not being able to reach an extension agreement. “The man upstairs doesn’t make mistakes. It is what it is. I will keep playing my best basketball,” he asserted.
After a difficult start to his career, Henderson began to show flashes in the closing stretch of last season. His reward has been the return of the team’s most important player in the last 50 years and the arrival of an All-Star-caliber player in his same position. Not counting Jrue Holiday’s continuity. “Normally I let my agents handle those matters. I focus on continuing to go out there and play the best I can, being the person I am and letting my game do the talking,” he said.
