Ja Morant will wear a new number with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Former Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant will not wear No. 12 with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Morant, who was traded by the Grizzlies to the Trail Blazers for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray, will wear No. 1 in Portland.
No Trail Blazer has donned the No. 12 since LaMarcus Aldridge did from 2007 to 2015. Aldridge ranks third in points scored and fifth in games played in franchise history.
Morant joins Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Deni Avdija and Donovan Clingan in Portland. The Trail Blazers made the playoffs this past season despite Lillard not playing due to his Achilles tear. They didn't bring Tiago Splitter back as head coach, though.
Splitter was hired by the Chicago Bulls, while the Blazers hired Micah Nori.
Portland envisions a starting backcourt of Lillard and Morant, per NBA insider Chris Haynes.
Morant was the second overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft out of Murray State. He's played in only 79 regular-season games since the start of the 2023-24 season.
A two-time All-Star, Morant appeared in 327 regular-season games with the Grizzlies and 22 playoff games. He averaged 22.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game in the regular season and 26.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game in the playoffs.
Memphis won just one postseason series in the Morant era. That was back in 2022.
It's going to be a while before the Grizzlies make the playoffs again. However, at least they have a young building block in Cameron Boozer, who won the Player of the Year Award last season. The Duke forward averaged 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 55.6% from the field, 39.1% from beyond the arc and 78.9% from the free-throw line.
At the NBA Combine in Chicago, Boozer measured at 6-8¼ without shoes. He weighed 253 pounds, his standing reach was 9-0 and his wingspan was 7-1½.
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