Why the Blazers Might Be Paying Ja Morant Too Much Money

Ja Morant has the highest cap hit on the Portland Trail Blazers, and it isn't particularly close.

Morant is set to make $42 million in the upcoming season, which ranks first on the Blazers. The only teammate making more than 50 percent of what Morant is set to make is 18-year veteran Jrue Holiday, who is on the books for $34.8 million. Everyone else is making $20 million or less.

Player	2026-27 Salary
Ja Morant	$42,116,510
Jrue Holiday	$34,800,000
Shaedon Sharpe	$20,089,287 (injured)
Toumani	$18,080,358

For the Blazers, allocating this amount of money to a star player compared to the rest of the roster makes sense as a team trying to make the playoffs. However, Morant might not necessarily be the star player.

"He has to be your primary ball handler in order to justify this contract. If he's going to be your primary ball handler, all of that value has to come from the pressure that he puts on the rim. He has not been getting to the rim at an elite level for several years now. If he can't do that, now suddenly you're looking at a player that can't even really be a role player," CBS Sports analyst Sam Quinn said.

"... When you're talking about that kind of player profile, if you're not somebody you can build an offense around and you can't be a role player, that's a backup-level player. Ja Morant is of such stature in the NBA that I don't think he would ever be comfortable being a backup. We'll see how that goes for Portland this season."

Can Ja Morant Be Portland's Star Player?

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant reacts during the first quarter against the Atlanta Hawks. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It remains to be seen if Morant will be the best player on the Blazers this season. He's in competition with Damian Lillard and Deni Avdija to be the team's leading scorer.

It isn't necessarily a competition between the three players, but I'm not saying specifically that they likely won't all be able to have the ball in their hands at the same time. All three of these players benefit most when the ball is in their hands, and they've proven that they can do so at a high level throughout their careers.

Lillard is the all-time leading scorer in Blazers franchise history and could still play like one of the best in the league even coming off of an Achilles injury in 2025. Avdija is coming off a year in which he became an All-Star for the first time and led the Blazers to the playoffs for the first time in five years.

Morant has never really been a secondary option throughout his career, but it's something that he could mold himself into becoming with the Blazers if everything works out the right way.

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