The Portland Trail Blazers are betting that Ja Morant can slide into a setup that already has Deni Avdija running the show, and the clearest model for making it work comes from the 2024 Dallas Mavericks.
Dallas built around Luka Doncic as the primary ballhandler and offensive engine, but Kyrie Irving still had room to operate as a high-level shot creator. That kind of shared playmaking is the template Portland is hoping to borrow, even if the fit in Portland is messier because Morant and Avdija both do their best work attacking the paint.
Avdija led the league in drives per game last season at 19.4, while Morant tied for fifth at 15.7. That leaves a real traffic jam at the rim, and the Blazers will have to settle the pecking order if this is going to work. The idea is not to force Morant into a lead role at Avdija’s expense, but to let him function as the secondary creator while Avdija stays the focal point.
That balance matters because Morant does not give Portland much spacing. He has shot 31.1 percent from deep in his career, and in a limited 20-game stretch last season he was down at 23.5 percent. The Blazers spent the offseason trying to build on Avdija’s All-Star rise by putting the right pieces around him, so shifting the ball out of his hands more often would run against that plan.
That is the central risk in the deal. Portland essentially paid almost nothing, with Jerami Grant serving as the headliner in what the piece describes as an arguably net negative package. The real cost could end up being whatever impact Morant has on Avdija’s continued growth.
Dallas had the advantage of a clean hierarchy, with Doncic clearly at the top and Irving given plenty of chances to create within the flow of the game. Portland is chasing a version of that formula, though the article calls Morant a “Walmart version” of Irving.
Even so, the Blazers are taking a swing on a buy-low trade and hoping Morant can bounce back after what was statistically the worst and most inefficient season of his career. If he does, Portland suddenly has a dangerous playoff team with two players handling most of the playmaking.
The rest of the roster is built to support that kind of structure. Toumani Camara, Donovan Clingan, and Robert Williams III are elite role players who depend on others to get them looks, but they bring defense and intangibles that help cover for the offense. That same type of formula helped shape Dallas, and the Los Angeles Lakers are even trying to follow it with offseason moves like the blockbuster trade for Walker Kessler to get Doncic the big man he likes to have around.
Offense was always the question with this Portland team, and San Antonio exposed that in the first-round playoff series by containing Avdija at times and leaving the Blazers without another answer. Morant gives them one more layer on that end. The key is whether Portland can keep Avdija in his point-forward role and build a clear hierarchy around him.
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