The Portland Trail Blazers should strongly consider trading Jerami Grant prior to the Feb. 6 deadline. They may have waited too long to maximize a potential return for Grant due to his declining play this season and the new CBA, which significantly limits teams' financial flexibility.
Grant signed a massive five-year, $160 million deal back in 2023. Although that's a steep payment, it's not egregious to the point where contending teams should be deterred from adding the veteran forward at the deadline. However, it significantly limits Grant's number of potential landing spots.
Cleveland adds the Final Infinity Stone in Jerami Grant
The second-round picks in this scenario would be 2025 via Denver and 2027 via Milwaukee.
Portland would gain more long-term financial flexibility from this deal. Grant is on the books through 2027-28, when he has a player option, while LeVert is on an expiring contract.
Isaac Okoro is an excellent fit for their young core as well. The former No. 5 overall pick is 23 years old and arguably underutilized in Cleveland, playing just 20.2 minutes a game. He'd be an ideal addition to Portland's bolster bench as a 3-and-D wing, shooting a career-best 44.8 percent from three this season.
Cleveland has been having a historic season with a 33-4 record. They deserve to be considered legitimate contenders. However, if the season ended today, they still likely wouldn't be favorites to make it out of the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers should make a move to help improve those title chances, and adding Grant makes a lot of sense.
Although he's having a down year by his standards, Grant is a veteran who can seamlessly fit in with any team with his length and shooting. He's also proven throughout his career that he can still be impactful in a lessened role, taking a backseat to Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell in the offensive hierarchy.
Duop Reath would also be an underrated addition that would help provide them with a much-needed backup center that can space the floor and give the Cavs' offense another dimension when Jarrett Allen is out.
Milwaukee swaps out Middleton for the more reliable Grant
This isn't an overly exciting deal for the Blazers, a rebuilding team that would be trading a 30-year-old for a 33-year-old. But the idea here is that the Blazers' would be shortening the number of years on a massive contract, with Khris Middleton having a player option for next season.
Even if he landed in a rebuilding situation like Portland, it wouldn't be surprising if Middleton picked up his $34 million player option for 2025-26, as his impact no longer justifies that massive contract. Getting off of Middleton's contract rather than Grant's potentially two years later aligns much better with when Portland will likely want to accelerate their rebuild after adding two valuable first-round draft picks to their roster.
Grant is currently a more valuable player than Middleton, at least in 2025, as Middleton has dealt with injuries. The Bucks are in win-now mode after sacrificing future assets to pair Damian Lillard with Giannis Antetokounmpo. They should be thrilled to bring over Grant without giving up a first-round pick. Lillard's former teammate has hovered around 40 percent from beyond the arc in all three seasons in Portland and would provide valuable floor spacing for Lillard and Giannis to operate.
Memphis and Miami address positional needs with Grant and Smart
Miami would send Portland a 2026 second-round pick (via Lakers) and a 2027 second-round pick (via Spurs). Memphis would send Portland a 2030 second-round pick (via Mavericks).
Memphis balances out their roster better by offloading Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard for Grant, addressing their positional need for a forward. Trading for Terry Rozier backfired for Miami, and the Heat could move on from that failed experiment by shipping him to Portland.
Smart and Jabari Walker are two players who fit into the "Heat culture" as energetic, defensive-minded players. Walker is somewhat expendable for the Blazers as he hasn't cracked the rotation consistently this season, oftentimes playing more of an undersized center role, which Portland already has four of. He's also a restricted free agent after this season, leaving his long-term status with the Blazers in question.
In this hypothetical deal, Portland gets the short end of the stick in terms of talent. However, similar to the proposed deal with Milwaukee, where the Blazers land Middleton, swapping Grant for Rozier would shorten the number of years they'd be on the books for such a substantial contract.
Rozier is owed $24.9 million this season and $26.6 million next year and wouldn't figure to be a long-term piece in Portland's rebuild at 30 years old. Kennard is on an expiring deal, which would give the Blazers more flexibility in deciding whether to keep him. He's not a perfect fit for their timeline at 28, but he is a sharpshooter who is a career 44.0 percent shooter from beyond the arc. That could be someone the Blazers want to potentially keep around beyond this season, given their shooting woes.
Rozier and Kennard aren't needle movers and don't quite fit into what Portland is trying to build with their young core. However, getting off of Grant's contract is a positive asset in itself at this point since GM Joe Cronin waited too long to move their $160 million forward. That, as well as the fact that the Blazers land three second-round picks in a market that is valuing second-round picks more highly due to the new CBA, could make this the type of deal that the Blazers ultimately have to settle for.