The Portland Trail Blazers knew what last night's game meant to Ja Morant. He was going against his old team, and while it is insisted publicly that there are no hard feelings, there's evidence to suggest that maybe they was a smidge of intensity that won't be present again until these two squads play again.

And Ja was excellent in the first half, playing at a level that looked familiar to Grizzlies fans. Then, he injured his hamstring in the second half and had to sit out the rest of the game. Unfortunately, that sight was also a familiar one.

What isn't familiar, though, is the fact that the Memphis Grizzlies are 5-0 to start the season after their victory over Morant's Trail Blazers. In a game where the Grizzlies were underdogs coming in, they made a statement that they were ready to meet the moment.

And the leader of that charge? The second youngest player to ever record a triple double in the NBA, and one of the youngest players in the league this season, Cameron Boozer. The heir apparent to what Ja Morant once was for the Memphis Grizzlies displayed why he was chosen #3 overall in the 2026 NBA Draft, and why the two teams who didn't select him before Memphis did may come to regret it.

It won't be a flashy rise to prominence. His game is not as aesthetically stunning, at least to the common eye. Morant's peak was a nightly threat of a viral highlight that would stun the timeline and dare your algorithm to find something more impressive. Boozer will cross your feed because of the stat line, but the tape won't show a rim-rattling dunk or out of this world finish with athletic flare.

What it will show, however, is a feel for the game that is well beyond his years - and a skill set to match.

The fluidity of his game is what impresses most. A big that could possibly lead the league in rebounding while averaging 6 or 7 assists a game sounds very Jokic-ian...and maybe that is the ceiling for Boozer. But to compare him to Nikola Jokic wouldn't be fair on both accounts - Jokic has won a title and multiple MVPs. Boozer is just starting on his journey.

But Jokic doesn't run the court in transition and handle the ball the way Boozer does. And Boozer's positional flexibility - the fact he can play the small forward spot or the center one, depending on the matchup - is a coach's dream.

But beyond the court? The way Boozer sees the game and embraces the winning, team philosophy will mean so much moving forward. He may well wind up being the best player on the Grizzlies in this moment - he may already be there. But his gravity won't pull people in to play around him. He will play through those connected to him.

There's a major difference there. Instead of looking to Boozer to take the final shot, as the team may have done with Ja Morant or Zach Randolph in the past, they will look to Boozer to make the final decision on what the best chance to win the game will be.

At times, that will be a pass to an open Cedric Coward. Or a feed in a high-low set to Zach Edey. Other times, it will be for Boozer to take the shot. That makes a team so much more dangerous when the games matter most - when a team is playing for postseason possibilities of success.

Superstardom is in the eye of the beholder. Will Cam Boozer have a signature shoe? How many commercials for telephone or clothing brands will he appear in? How "marketable" is a guy who seems to care only about basketball and winning? Boozer is of course more than just this game as a person, but between his intense focus on hoops and how/where he plays? It's probable he won't be the next Ja Morant for the Grizzlies in terms of stardom.

And that's ok. Because Memphis doesn't need a replacement for Morant. They need a reason to believe that in the wake of one era ending - one that once carried with it such hope - that the next one can be better.

Boozer brings that possibility to the squad and then some. And that form of superstardom - the Tim Duncan variety - can bring with it a lot of winning.

Memphis will eventually lose, of course (although, if you look at the schedule, it may be a few games). There will be tough times ahead for such a young team. But with the combination of talent and mental toughness that Boozer possesses, there is reason to believe that this Grizzlies rebuild will be far faster than originally expected.

And that the franchise's search for their next superstar may have already come to a conclusion.