Portland Trail Blazers should trade for Jerami Grant of the Denver Nuggets

The Portland Trail Blazers need a forward who can shoot the three and defend multiple positions. Could Denver Nuggets swingman Jerami Grant be the answer?

The Portland Trail Blazers are in desperate need of a proper forward for the future. With Denver Nuggets swingman Jerami Grant impressing in their recently completed Western Conference playoffs, the Blazers should try to trade for him.

Carmelo Anthony had a good year in 2019/20 as a ready-made power forward replacement. But he will be 37-years-old next season and isn’t a serious piece for a team that wants to contend for a title. Zach Collins is a five more than a four, and Wenyen Gabriel is still very raw and probably a year or two away from being a starting big on a playoff team.

The power forward position is pivotal to the Blazers playoff hopes. With the defensive struggles this team has, they need personnel to guard quality forwards.

Enter Jerami Grant. The 26-year-old Denver Nuggets forward had a great playoff run as his team made the Conference finals, going out to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in a competitive five-game series.

Grant was actually salary dumped from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Nuggets a year ago, and now he is in demand as a top free agent this season.

Grant’s defensive job on Kawhi Leonard is one of the biggest reasons his name has been in lights the last few weeks. You have to look deeper than the box score to see Grant’s impact on the Nuggets this post-season.

Grant defended Kawhi for a lot of the second-round series. Obviously, this series is a famous one now as the Nuggets came back from a three games to one deficit to dump the stacked LA Clippers out of the playoffs.

Kawhi, being limited by Grant, shows just how far the sixth-year forward has come as a man defender.

When Kawhi was guarded by Grant, he shot only 43.5 percent on twos, also giving up just nine free throw attempts. He also did a commendable job on LeBron, as the all-time great only shot 46.9 percent from the field, significantly lower than his overall playoff field goal percentage of 54.7.

Grant is a strong help defender as well. Though his blocked shot numbers are down over the last year, this can be attributed to him defending the opposition’s best perimeter player and being further away from the basket. Grant is a strong shot blocker regardless.

Offensively, Grant is an excellent finisher at the rim, and he has a developing game off the bounce. He isn’t going to break down a defense, but he can pump fake from the perimeter and get to the rim. He can also take the ball coast to coast and is comfortable finishing in transition.

As a shooter, he hit 40 percent from three both of the last two regular seasons. In the playoffs, these numbers are 45 and 33. This equates to a very strong number of 38.2 percent over the previous two seasons combined—an excellent number for a stretch big.

Grant is precisely the type of two-way forward the Blazers could use. The next question is, how could they get him?

It was reported shortly after the Nuggets went out in the conference finals that Grant would likely opt out of his $9.3 million player option to become a free agent this off-season.

The Nuggets are in prime position to bring him back, as they have his early bird rights. This means that they can go over the cap to re-sign him, and can offer up to 175 percent of his previous deal.

The Nuggets can bring him back, but what happens if Grant wants more than the Nuggets are willing to offer?

They already have $107 million in salary on their books for 2021, but have Mason Plumlee, Torrey Craig, and Paul Millsap as pending free agents. The Nuggets, as a small market team, may not want to pay the tax.

If another team, say the Blazers, want to offer Grant more than the Nuggets, then initiating a sign and trade would mean that the Blazers would get their man and the Nuggets would get something in return rather than losing him for nothing. The Blazers only have the mid-level exception and next to no cap space, so the only way to get him would be through a sign and trade.

The Nuggets may only want to offer a deal starting around $12 million, but the Blazers may offer $14 million.

The Nuggets wouldn’t want to lose Grant, but if they were outbid, then they wouldn’t want to lose him while getting nothing in return. This way, they could get back a defender who could play the three in Ariza, as well as a first-round pick. If the Blazers guaranteed Trevor Ariza‘s contract and sent this year’s first-round pick, they could have the basis of a deal.

I would be happy with the Blazers offering Grant a four-year $60 million deal. He is just 26, can defend multiple positions, and has an excellent offensive game.