There were plenty of positives and negatives as Ja Morant saw his first preseason action with the Trail Blazers Wednesday night, but the most encouraging part of his time in Portland has been his attitude, writes Jason Quick of The Athletic. After feuding with the coaching staff and front office last year in Memphis, Morant has taken the opposite approach with his new team. Quick reports that he has been constantly smiling and laughing with his teammates and seems happy in his new surroundings.
Starting in the backcourt alongside Damian Lillard, Morant had eight points, five assists and four turnovers in 19 minutes. He pushed the pace throughout the game and created scoring opportunities with his speed, but that also resulted in some unwise decisions that led to losing the ball.
“I feel like he has a lot of joy right now,’’ Lillard said. “I read people well, you know? And I can tell he is not pretending to be happy, you know? He walks around with a smile. And when we practice, and he’s talking, he’s engaged, he’s invested, and you are able to see that he’s happy with his situation.’’
Coach Micah Nori plans to use Morant and Lillard as his starters when the season begins, which leads to questions about whether two ball-dominant, defensively limited guards can be effective together. Quick states that the Blazers are confident after watching Morant in practice that he can get back to an All-Star level, and they believe he and Lillard can figure out the pairing.
“I think our potential is great,” Lillard said. “Obviously I see what people say, but most of them haven’t had to jump out there and do it. I played for eight years with another undersized backcourt mate (CJ McCollum), and we were able to get a lot done. And people had similar things to say, but the bottom line is we never lost. We never had a losing team. We won and gave people some problems. And I think we have a similar situation with Ja.’’
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
Lillard talks about his recovery from the ruptured Achilles that forced him to miss all of last season in an interview with NBA TV (Twitter video link). The Trail Blazers star said he feels “great” now, crediting his decision to attack the rehab process from the start. “I feel like I’ve gotten back to everything I had before,” he added*. “I feel explosive going both directions. I feel like I can get any shot off from any range.”* Lillard also confirmed that he plans to be in the Three-Point Shootout at All-Star Weekend in hopes of winning the event for a record fourth time.
Jazz center Jaxson Hayes is ready for the additional responsibility that will result from Jusuf Nurkic’s injury, relays Na’Andre Emerson of The Deseret News. Hayes moved into the starting lineup Tuesday and is likely to keep that role when the season begins. “It’s just a next-man-up mentality,” he said. “I’ve dealt with so many situations in L.A. So just staying prepared and being a professional. Everyone’s got to be ready.”
Thunder guard Jalen Williams couldn’t stay healthy during the playoffs, but he looked back to 100% in his preseason debut on Wednesday, posting 16 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals in 18 minutes while shooting 8-for-11 from the field, per Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman. “He was awesome,” coach Mark Daigneault said. “It’s just great to see him out there playing with the confidence and aggression that he did on both ends of the floor. He’s got an electric motor that really is contagious inside the team, and you really feel it when he’s on the court on both ends.”