The Portland Trail Blazers have a massive Jerami Grant problem on their hands. Last season, Grant averaged 14.4 points and 3.5 rebounds, shooting an inefficient 37.3 percent from the field. That's not ideal, especially considering that Portland is set to pay him $102.6 million over the next three years.
Grant himself admitted to having a down season, and should be due for positive regression in 2025-26. But he'd have to significantly improve to justify that contract under the new CBA.
Not too long ago, the Blazers had a greedy and unrealistic asking price of two first-round picks to trade Grant. That quickly backfired as Grant's situation changed, and not in Portland's favor. Now, if they want to offload Grant's contract, the Blazers would likely have to be the ones to include the draft capital. He's rapidly become a negative asset and arguably the worst contract in the association.
At this stage of its rebuild, Portland doesn't want to attach picks to trade Grant. As a result, the Blazers are seemingly stuck with him for multiple years.
Jerami Grant's contract creates impossible situation for Blazers
It's a lose-lose situation that Joe Cronin has gotten the Blazers into. They either sacrifice valuable assets to trade Grant, or Grant remains on the roster, hindering the development of their up-and-coming players. The logical solution is to keep Grant around, but have him come off the bench.
The talent gap between Grant and someone like Scoot Henderson or Shaedon Sharpe isn't wide enough to justify taking starting roles away from Portland's young core. But Chauncey Billups tends to rely on his veterans; if that remains the case this season, it needs to be Jrue Holiday, not Grant, in the starting unit.
Unlike the score-first Grant, Holiday is a more well-rounded and versatile player who elevates his teammates. Holiday will also impact winning at a higher level as a two-way player, helping Portland achieve its win-now goals.
Grant's case to start lies in his 6-foot-7 frame bolstering Portland's identity as one of the tallest teams in the league. More importantly, Grant would provide offense for a Blazers team that could struggle to score with Anfernee Simons and Deandre Ayton out of the picture. But these aren't convincing enough reasons to prioritize Grant over a more impactful veteran like Holiday or more important rebuild pieces like Henderson and Sharpe.
Portland seems set to head into 2025-26 with Grant on its roster, and that will likely remain the case for multiple years. There's no correct answer in terms of finding a solution where Portland comes away as a winner in this situation. Now, the best thing they can realistically do is keep Grant around in a lessened role. Hopefully, Cronin and Billups come to this same conclusion.