Rip City Project
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Trail Blazers’ bounty of picks make for intriguing off-season trade possibilities

By Joe Capraro

Anfernee Simons, Josh Hart, Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)
Anfernee Simons, Josh Hart, Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images) /
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Jerami Grant, Jusuf Nurkic, Portland Trail Blazers, Detroit Pistons
PORTLAND, OREGON – NOVEMBER 30: Jerami Grant #9 of the Detroit Pistons shoots against Jusuf Nurkic #27 of the Portland Trail Blazers during the third quarter at Moda Center on November 30, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) /

Jerami Grant is a multi-faceted multi-position star in the making

The Detroit Pistons’ 6’9″ Jerami Grant can play either forward position and defend guards through centers, so it’s no surprise he was one of Cronin’s prime rumored trade targets leading up to the trade deadline.

The rumored asking price from Detroit was either two first-round picks or one plus a young player, and the Blazers should be able to meet those demands easily. His $20 million-plus salary for next season doesn’t fit under the cap, so the Blazers would have to time their signings correctly and resign themselves to some loss of flexibility to bring in Grant while also retaining Nurkic and Simons.

But a starting five of Simons, Lillard, Winslow, Grant, and Nurkic is much more balanced and eons better defensively than the five who started this season and would put the Blazers back in contention for a long playoff run in 2023.

Grant is a Portland native and is close with Lillard, so the fact that he becomes a free agent next summer should be less of a concern to the Blazers than it might be to other suitors. And he’s nearing his peak years as Lillard is completing his, so this could be the ideal time to bring them together.