What I Changed My Mind About After Blazers Win vs. Warriors

The Portland Trail Blazers showcased some positive developments following their preseason-opening victory against the Golden State Warriors.

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard heads back on defense after scoring against the Golden State Warriors. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Portland Trail Blazers are learning from their 123-118 victory against the Golden State Warriors, which gave them an opportunity to play against another team for the first time in training camp.

The Blazers have a lot of question marks going into the season regarding their offensive hierarchy with Damian Lillard, Ja Morant and Deni Avdija, but the first preseason game slightly altered my opinion on how things might go.

The Hope: Deni Avdija Will Lead Blazers in Scoring

Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija during media day. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Avdija shined with 23 points in 21 minutes on 9 of 13 shooting against the Warriors. While one preseason game won't dictate the entire season's outlook, it does give a sign of what Portland might be cooking for the regular season.

Avdija should greatly benefit from Damian Lillard's spacing on the perimeter, allowing him to drive into the lane with less pressure from opposing defenders. The threat of Lillard shooting from three should have the opposing defense playing help-side, which means less attention for Avdija when he drives into the lane.

He should be able to feast on this aspect of the offense, and that should be Portland's bread and butter for the rest of the season. If they can successfully enable this consistently over the course of the year, the Blazers should have a better record than they did last year.

The Concern: Ja Morant Will Struggle Adapting to His New Role

Portland Trail Blazers guard Ja Morant drives to the basket against the Golden State Warriors. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With Avdija and Lillard playing well off each other, it does put Morant's role in a bit of uncertainty. Morant looked rusty in the team's win, as he committed four turnovers and ramped up the pace a little too much at times. That is definitely a point of emphasis the coaching staff will make as they go into the later games, but Morant has not played second or third fiddle in the NBA so far.

Morant is going to have to figure out how he can be a complementary player for Avdija and Lillard. It's something he didn't have to do much of with the Memphis Grizzlies because he was always the one getting others involved. Now it's about putting himself in the best position to be able to score.

That will be Morant's biggest test of the season. If he can adapt to his new surroundings well enough, Portland should be in a great position to boast one of the best offenses in the league. If not, this trade could end up being the biggest swing and miss of the offseason.