Blazers new acquisition a positive preseason performer

As a whole, The Portland Trail Blazers pre-season wasn’t great, as the team was 0-4 in preparations for the 2022/23 NBA season, including losses to Sacramento and Utah, and while no one should overreact to the pre-season, it wasn’t the results the team were looking for. There were some bright spots, and with limited minutes for Damian Lillard, it’s highly unlikely that this is the team performance that we will see when the regular season begins, but arguably the biggest bright spot of them all came from one of the Blazers prized acquisitions from this off-season.

That would be Jerami Grant, who Portland traded for after the 2021/22 season concluded, and while many were scratching their head at the time of the deal, pairing him with Lillard and some of the young players on this team could make them very competitive when the season begins. In just 24 minutes per game this pre-season, Grant averaged 15.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.1 BPG on 67% from the field and 70% from three, and while those shooting numbers aren’t sustainable, it appears that Grant has bought in as the two-way star many expect him to be.

The Blazers haven’t had a forward with this skillset for a long time, and with Lillard back to full health and some young kids surrounding them with plenty of potential, this team has a chance to win plenty of games in 2022. Grant has averaged over 20 PPG during his two years with the Detroit Pistons, and if he can continue to play a two way game, he will become a great leader for this young team, who are desperately trying to get back to the postseason.

The pre-season doesn’t mean a lot, but it’s good for teams to build chemistry with new players, and if Grant’s start to his Blazers career continues like it began in the pre-season, we could be looking at a very valuable piece for this Portland team going forward.