Ja Morant Out at Least Four Weeks With Hamstring Strain

Ja Morant has a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and will be reevaluated in four weeks, the Portland Trail Blazers announced Friday. That is a brutal hit to one of the best early stories in the NBA.

Morant got hurt Thursday night in his first game against his old team, the Memphis Grizzlies. He felt a twinge in the hamstring and left in the fourth quarter of a 124-103 loss, after putting up 14 points and three assists in 23 minutes. The timeline means he misses at least the next 15 games.

A Fresh Start, Interrupted

This one stings because Morant finally looked like himself again. Portland traded for him in June, and he walked into the season healthy after playing just 20 games in 2025-26 because of an elbow sprain. Through four games he averaged 15.8 points and 5.5 assists, and he dropped a season-high 23 in Tuesday's win over the Lakers.

He and Damian Lillard clicked fast, too. The Blazers are 3-1 and had the NBA's No. 3 offense through Thursday. First-year coach Micah Nori had been trying to keep minutes down for both stars to lean on his backcourt depth. Now that depth gets tested for real.

Who Picks Up the Minutes

Jrue Holiday looks like the most likely guy to slide into the starting five next to Lillard, with Scoot Henderson staying in a big role off the bench. Vit Krejci could get more run as well. Portland is already without another guard, Shaedon Sharpe, who has a torn meniscus.

The schedule does not help. The Blazers open a four-game road trip Saturday in Utah, then go to Denver, Phoenix and back to the Lakers.

How Long Could It Be?

Four weeks is a reevaluation date, not a return date. Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes found that NBA players have lost an average of 34.7 days to Grade 2 hamstring strains since 2005. If Morant misses five weeks, he would be out for Portland's next 18 games and back in early December.

Morant is 27, and injuries have been the story for a while now. He played only 79 total games across his last three seasons in Memphis, which is exactly why this hot start in Portland felt like such a big deal.

My Smacktok lean: go higher on Jrue Holiday's assists Saturday at Utah. He is the likely new starter next to Lillard, he had four assists in 24 minutes on Thursday, and the 5.5 assists a night Morant was handing out have to go somewhere.

Portland built a fun team around two star guards. Now it finds out how good it is with one.