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The Portland Trail Blazers have an open roster spot to work with. With injuries to Ja Morant, Vit Krejci, and Shaedon Sharpe, there's reason to believe that Portland could scour the free agent market for an additional player.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the Blazers are among the teams interested in veteran point guard Kevin Porter Jr.
"The Stein Line has learned that Portland has joined Miami on the list of teams considering a move for the 26-year-old," Stein wrote.
"The Blazers' interest is certainly surprising even with Ja Morant sidelined, given that Portland still has Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson in the backcourt ... as well as All-Star swingman Deni Avdija's considerable ability on the ball."
As of now, the Blazers really only have 11 healthy players on the roster. Chris Youngblood is on a two-way deal and has been a regular part of the rotation, but that still only gives Portland 12 healthy bodies. In games like the team's latest against the San Antonio Spurs, when Robert Williams III sits to preserve his body over the long course of the season, they are compromised even further.
Getting another player in the building with NBA experience will be a positive for the Blazers, no matter who it is. For a player like Porter, it could give Portland the point guard it needs to replace Morant while he remains out, which could last for a couple more weeks.
Porter fits the bill as a player the Blazers would sign, given his success in other places, even though they would ignore the failures that have led to him becoming a free agent.
Ultimately, I think the Blazers are going to move on from Porter, and he will likely sign elsewhere. Teams like the Miami Heat and Sacramento Kings make more sense for Porter than Portland does.
Morant's injury is temporary, and he should be back sometime in December. The Blazers could benefit from adding him, but he is a player who needs the ball in his hands. There are already so many mouths to feed in Portland's offense, making it difficult to incorporate someone new in the middle of the season.
The Blazers' offense has been humming along just fine without Morant. While it may not be at its peak, they are doing enough to get by at this point in the season. Should Morant need more time to recover, there's more of a possibility of signing Porter. For now, keeping things the way they are is likely how the Blazers will operate.