Ja Morant’s hot start in Portland has been derailed by a left hamstring injury, according to the Trail Blazers (Twitter link), who announced today that the star guard has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 strain after undergoing imaging.

According to the team, Morant – who suffered the injury on Thursday in his first game against his former team, the Grizzlies – will be reevaluated in four weeks. That timeline suggests he’ll be sidelined for most or all of November.

After being limited to 79 total appearances during his last three seasons in Memphis due primarily to a variety of injuries, Morant was traded from the Grizzlies to the Trail Blazers in June and entered this fall healthy. He looked more like his old self in his first three games with the Blazers (all wins), averaging 16.3 points and 6.3 assists in 27.0 minutes per contest while posting a strong .588/.444/.833 shooting line.

Given that strong start, the hamstring injury is a disappointing setback for Morant and the Blazers, who are also missing another guard, Shaedon Sharpe, due to a torn meniscus.

The good news for Portland is that the team still has a solid amount of backcourt depth. Veteran guard Jrue Holiday seems likely to enter the starting lineup alongside Damian Lillard, with Scoot Henderson continuing to play a key role off the bench. Vit Krejci has struggled in a limited role in the early going but could be a candidate for more regular minutes with Morant on the shelf.

More to come…