The Portland Trail Blazers didn’t just trade for a former All-Star. They traded for a rebrand.
Ja Morant is officially ditching the No. 12 jersey he’s worn since high school and will suit up as No. 1 for the Blazers. Portland announced the switch on social media Tuesday with a hype video that basically said: new team, new number, new era. The clip showed a clock flipping from 12 to 1 with the caption “12 turns to 1.” Simple enough.
Nobody wore 12 for Portland before the trade, so this wasn’t about some veteran blocking his number. Morant just wanted a clean break. And honestly, after everything that’s happened the last couple years — the suspensions, the shoulder injury that cost him most of last season, the general feeling that Memphis had run its course — a fresh start makes sense.
Morant arrived via a trade that sent Jerami Grant and Kris Murray to the Grizzlies. That’s it. Two players for a guy who was the face of a franchise two years ago. The Blazers didn’t give up a single future first-round pick in the deal, which feels almost impossible to believe given Morant’s ceiling. Portland gambled that the 26-year-old can get back to the version of himself that averaged 27 points and 8 assists before everything went sideways.
What the Backcourt Looks Like Now
Here’s where it gets messy in a good way. Portland already has Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, Scoot Henderson, and Shaedon Sharpe. That’s five guards who all need minutes. Lillard isn’t going anywhere. Holiday just got there. Henderson is the future. Sharpe is too talented to bury. Morant walks into a rotation that needs serious sorting out.
But that’s a problem most teams would love to have. The Blazers broke out last season and made real noise in the West. Adding Morant — assuming he’s healthy and locked in — pushes them closer to the tier of teams that can actually scare Denver and Oklahoma City in a seven-game series.
The risks are obvious. Morant has missed 73 games over the last two seasons between the suspension and the shoulder surgery. He’s got to prove he can stay on the floor and stay out of his own way. But at 26, with that kind of athleticism and that kind of deal, Portland had to swing.
Fans online noted the number change feels like a signal: Morant wants to leave the old headlines behind. The Blazers clearly think they can help him do it.
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