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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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On Monday afternoon, ESPN's Shams Charania broke the news that the Memphis Grizzlies had traded away two-time All-Star Ja Morant to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray.
The Blazers weren't being talked about at all in the Morant sweepstakes, making this one of the more surprising deals of the offseason.
Portland had spent weeks chasing Giannis Antetokounmpo before pivoting to Jaylen Brown. And leading up to this trade, the Blazers were the frontrunners to land the Boston Celtics star. Nobody thought it'd be Morant instead.
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So, with Morant now heading to Portland, does that mean the Trail Blazers are out of the Brown sweepstakes? Not necessarily.
Portland now has Morant, Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, Scoot Henderson, and Shaedon Sharpe in the backcourt, while Deni Avdija is a ball-dominant wing who led the team in assists last year at 6.7 per game. That's six players fighting for touches and minutes. And trading for Brown might be what helps solve that problem.
A Brown trade could see the Blazers send Holiday, who previously played for the Celtics from 2023 to 2025 and helped lead them to an NBA title in 2024, alongside Henderson and draft picks. If Portland really wanted to get a deal done, they could add in Sharpe, or if need be, Avdija, though they've reportedly been adamant on keeping him.
The Blazers control the Bucks' future first-round picks from 2028 and 2030 and have plenty of their own first-round draft capital as well. Boston reportedly has been asking for four first-rounders. Portland is one of the few teams that have been in the market for Brown, and still have the pieces to make a deal work.
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Charania already pushed back slightly on this trade idea, saying that the Morant deal was Portland's "big move as of right now." But things can change fast, and the idea of adding Brown to a core of Morant, Lillard, Avdija, Toumani Camara and Donovan Clingan is enticing to pass up.
A deal of that magnitude would move the needle significantly and put the Blazers firmly in contention in the Western Conference.
Portland has the assets, and they've been heavily linked to Brown for weeks. Now's the time to take one last, massive swing.
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