Winners, losers from Ja Morant trade to Portland Trail Blazers - Yahoo Sports

Putting Morant in the backcourt with Damian Lillard in a starting group with Deni Avdija makes little sense In a perfect world, NBA teams would make every decision purely based on basketball merit. It rarely works out that way. Locker room dynamics are tricky. Players fight hard to earn their stature within the sport. It affects their reputations, their earning power and their entire careers. It usually isn't something they're eager to sacrifice because someone else thinks it might make the team slightly better. For the sake of maintaining harmony, teams are frequently forced to make decisions they might not otherwise make. The Portland Trail Blazers are currently experiencing such a dilemma. Earlier this offseason, the Blazers traded for Ja Morant. Last summer, they reacquired Damian Lillard as he recovered from a torn Achilles. And last season, Deni Avdija grew into an All-Star as Portland's only reliable ball-handler. Having one consistent shot creator isn't enough. Having three, at least in the wrong context, is too many. Yet at his media availability at training camp on Tuesday, Lillard said he expects to start alongside Avdija and Morant this season.

For a team that was labelled a "super team" coming into the season, the Rams have looked more like a super disappointment through six weeks. Kellen Forrest dives into another painful loss for L.A. and more in his Week 6 takeaways.

Story byA video of Robinson swiping at the trainer as she went to tend to an injured player went viral, following the Blue Devils' loss to UNCKari AndersonContributing writerMon, October 19, 2026 at 4:55 AM UTC·2 min read