The Portland Trail Blazers and their high-flying offense have been one of the best — and most entertaining — stories of the young season. This throws cold water on that.
Ja Morant will miss at least a month due to a left hamstring strain, the team announced Friday.
Trail Blazers guard Ja Morant sustained a left hamstring injury during last night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Imaging revealed a grade two left hamstring strain.
Morant will be re-evaluated in four weeks. pic.twitter.com/Pbn8OmB2Bi
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) October 30, 2026
While he will be re-evaluated in a month, he could well be back not long after Thanksgiving.
Ja Morant Injury Update: The Blazers say Ja has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. A G2 strain is also known as a partial or incomplete tear. Since 2005-06, the average time lost for an in-season G2 hamstring strain in the NBA is 34.7 days (~14 games).
— Jeff Stotts (@InStreetClothes) October 30, 2026
Thursday night was Morant’s return to Memphis, but it ended early when he asked out of the game in the fourth quarter and was grabbing the back of his leg. He returned to the bench before the game ended, but he had a huge wrap on his left leg.
Expect Jrue Holiday to move into the starting five. This puts more on the plate of Scoot Henderson, who started the season coming off the bench and hadn’t looked sharp, averaging 7.5 points per game on 34.4% shooting. The Trail Blazers now need more out of him.
Morant looked good to start the season, as close to his vintage self as we have seen in a long time. He is averaging 16.3 points and 6.3 assists per game while shooting 58.8% overall and 44.4% from beyond the arc. He had a more mature game, where he could still snake his way to the paint and get good shots, but relied more on floaters in the paint than just banking on his athleticism and driving into the teeth of larger defenders at the rim.
What’s more, the whole offensive flow with Morant, Damian Lillard, Deni Avdija and the supporting players had just clicked. Morant bought in.
“I feel like a lot of people think like I’m just supposed to score 25 or score 30 every time, and I’m really a point guard. You know what I’m saying?” Morant said after the Trail Blazers beat the Lakers earlier this week. “So coming into it, I know I could make their jobs easier, release some pressure on them. Obviously, adding Dame back as well takes a lot of pressure from Deni having to handle a lot. We can get him, you know, way easier looks, and you know, vice versa. I don’t have to handle. Dame don’t have to handle. We still can get in a lot of stuff to get the job done.”
It was working beautifully, but it is now on hold for at least a month.