The Portland Trail Blazers put a beatdown on the Phoenix Suns in their season opener, 124-83. It was a historically dominant performance in Game 1 of 82, with just about everything going Portland's way. That includes the debut of All-Star point guard Ja Morant, who arrived via controversial offseason trade.

The actual price point of the Morant trade — Jerami Grant and Kris Murray — was not controversial. That's an incredible buy-low opportunity on a former All-NBA player who has performed well in recent years, when healthy. It was, however, an extremely odd fit, as Portland brought Morant into a guard room that already includes Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson. Any concerns about overlap or diminishing returns were unfounded on Wednesday night.

Blazers' demolition of Suns showed us the Ja Morant blueprint

Morant posted 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, with five rebounds, eight assists and three steals in 23 minutes. He did not attempt a free throw, but Portland was able to ramp up the tempo and get Morant moving downhill for crafty layups or kick-out dimes. Morant is still one of the most dangerous transition guards in the NBA; he's not the athlete he was a few years and a few knee injuries ago, but he still weaponizes a mean first step and some deceptive, herky-jerky handles.

It's impossible to take any data from a single blowout victory at face value. Morant posted the best plus-minus on the team (+33) and Portland was 58.3 points per 100 possessions better with Morant on the floor. Those are fake numbers, essentially. A completely unsustainable outlier.

That said, Portland accomplished everything it wanted to on Wednesday night. Between Morant and Deni Avdija, not to mention Damian Lillard as a trailing marksman, the Blazers are built to run and gun. Once this team is moving in the open floor, it will become extremely difficult for opposing defenses to check all the necessary boxes.

Moreover, Morant was limited to 23 minutes by virtue of the incongruant scoreboard. If the Blazers want to maximize Morant, it's probably best to keep his minutes down. More bang for their buck, so to speak. Damian Lillard put up 25 points in 24 minutes; Scoot Henderson dropped 15 points in 19 minutes, while Jrue Holiday provided valuable clamps and connective tissue in his 21 minutes as the nominal sixth man.

The beauty of such a deep backcourt, aside from an excess of talent, is that Portland can be smart with its staggers and minutes. Both Morant and Lillard have recent major knee injuries to account for, not to mention the typical frailties of small point guards and Father Time. If the Blazers can keep up their pace and production when Morant sits for 20 minutes every night, the formula feels sustainable.

Can the Blazers survive the Morant-Lillard minutes long term?

This is the question that could determine Portland's success or failure this season. Depth gives new head coach Micah Nori options; should the diminutive duo of Morant and Lillard hit a skid, he can simply plug Holiday into the starting five and transition Morant to a sixth man role. Same if injuries pop up, with Henderson (and hopefully Shaedon Sharpe, at some point) as further insurance.

Many would argue that Holiday in the starting lineup always made the most sense (raises hand slowly), but Portland is understandably seeing if the pros of two dynamic, high-octane guards — whose offensive skill sets are actually quite complementary — can outweigh the negative side effects on defense.

Neither Morant nor Lillard are plus defenders historically, and that duo leaves Portland at a huge weight disadvantage on the perimeter. Moreover, asking them to ramp up the efforts on defense is perilous given the miles on their odometer. The Blazers don't need Morant jumping passing lanes like it's 2022.

And yet... that is what Morant did in the opener, and it worked. He came up with three steals and was a genuine pest at the point of attack. Morant is never going to be a net positive defender, but if he can muster even baseline competence on that end of the floor, this Portland starting five has the infrastructure to compensate. Donovan Clingan is a budding rim protector, while Avdija and Toumani Camara are one of the better wing defender combos in basketball.

Still, logistically, Holiday's defense and low-usage skill set just make more on-paper sense. Morant is a singular offensive engine, though. He creates so many advantages with his speed, hits so many pressure points in an opposing defense. Factor in Lillard's godly gravity and volume as a 3-point shooter, with Avdija as a dangerous scorer and connector between them, and this Portland offense could rank near the top of the league at full strength.

We can check back after a few more games, once Morant, Lillard and this new core have time to settle in — and perhaps once Portland has faced a few better opponents. The early returns are quite promising, but not every concern is alleviated.