Ja Morant walked into a Las Vegas gym with Deni Avdija on Thursday, and the internet did what it does — turned a casual NBA Summer League appearance into a front-page moment. Morant and Avdija, two of the biggest names on a newly overhauled Portland roster, sat courtside together, passed a phone around for a video that went viral, and generally looked like guys who know something everyone else is about to find out.
The clip the NBA posted shows Morant and his new teammates goofing off. Vertical video. Horizontal video. The whole thing felt loose. That’s the point. This version of the Blazers is supposed to be fun.
Portland’s front office spent the last year stacking talent. They traded for Morant in a deal that reshaped the franchise’s trajectory. They brought in Jrue Holiday to steady the backcourt. They’ve got Shaedon Sharpe and rookie Donovan Clingan in the frontcourt. And somewhere in the background of all this roster math is Damian Lillard, coming back from a ruptured Achilles that cost him the entire 2025-26 season.
Lillard’s return is the kind of storyline that usually dominates training camp coverage. Right now it’s almost an afterthought, which says more about the depth of this team than any press release could.
Micah Nori isn’t worried about the fit
Blazers head coach Micah Nori has been around long enough to know that talent isn’t the hard part. Making it work is. But he told The Athletic’s Jason Quick that Morant looks different than the version of himself that left Memphis.
“The way he was talking, the way he looked … the intent he had, you could just tell in his face that he missed basketball,” Nori said. “And he assured that we were going to get the best Ja and that he was going to do all the right things.”
Nori essentially said the timing of the trade is ideal. Morant has been through the noise. The suspensions, the injuries, the public scrutiny. He’s 26 now, playing alongside a roster built to win now. “I think we are going to get the best version of Ja,” Nori added. “I think we are going to get a motivated Ja.”
What the West should expect
The Western Conference is brutal. It always is. But Portland now has a backcourt of Lillard, Morant, Holiday, and Avdija — with Sharpe and Clingan filling the gaps. That’s four guys who can create their own shot on any given possession. That’s not normal.
If Lillard comes back healthy, and that’s still an if until he plays real minutes, the Blazers have a top-three offense by default. If Morant stays on the court, they have a top-three closer. The defense might be a question, but with Holiday and Clingan, it’s not a catastrophe.
Fans online noted the chemistry already visible between Morant and Avdija. The two were laughing, talking through plays, clearly comfortable. It’s summer league. It doesn’t mean anything for April. But it’s also not nothing.
Morant has a chance to quiet the skeptics here. He’s in a new city, with a coach who believes in him, and a supporting cast that doesn’t need him to be superhuman every night. That’s a setup that rarely exists for a player of his caliber. The Blazers open the season in October. The West is on notice.
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