Following Morant's acquisition: the Trail Blazers are convinced that four point guards can coexist, and Donovan Clingan is expected to remain off the trade block.

On June 30th Beijing time, the Blazers made the 2-for-1 trade official, bringing in Ja Morant. Per team insider Quick, following the transaction, it's now settled that Portland center Donovan Clingan is basically off the table in any trade discussions.

With the Trail Blazers acquiring Morant and Damian Lillard returning next season, Clingan's elite rim-protecting ability has become even more valuable. The team views him as the key interior pillar that enables the backcourt duo to coexist. Both Morant and Lillard are relatively short and not exceptional defenders, so the 7-foot-1 center's intimidating presence in the paint is indispensable.

The Trail Blazers still plan to continue making moves to strengthen the roster. The team urgently needs to bolster its frontcourt depth. Currently, they have four point guards—Morant, Lillard, Jrue Holiday, and Scoot Henderson—creating significant backcourt redundancy, but the team is not forcing a trade of any of them. Portland believes the four guards can coexist, with the core idea being to have Holiday play off the ball, shifting between shooting guard and small forward to resolve the positional overlap.

The Trail Blazers' organization generally believes that trading Jerami Grant and Kris Murray for Ja Morant is a no-brainer. With the league's style of play increasingly blurring positions, having multiple ball-handling playmakers is a luxury asset. The Blazers will remain active in the trade market over the next few days. However, if Portland is unwilling to trade Clingan, they likely won't be able to entice the Celtics. Previously, Boston had expressed interest in acquiring Clingan and Toumani Camara in exchange for Jaylen Brown.