The Toronto Raptors' decision to acquire Brandon Ingram from the New Orleans Pelicans was polarizing. Well, it's hard to argue with the results as Toronto is surprisingly second in the Eastern Conference with a 15-7 record.
Ingram isn't a superstar by any means, but he's already proving to be a massive addition to this underrated Raptors roster. As a result of the Raptors' success thanks to Ingram, general managers around the league could now be more inclined to take on a high-level scorer who falls below the superstar line, hoping it's their version of the missing piece.
If that is the case, it presents a golden opportunity for the Portland Trail Blazers to finally dump the Jerami Grant contract that has been weighing them down.
Could the Blazers finally move on from Jerami Grant?
Ingram's start in Toronto also aligns perfectly with Grant's resurgent season in Portland. The Blazers arguably had the worst contract in the association on their hands after Grant's disappointing season, in which he averaged 14.4 points per game while shooting just 37.3% from the field. Fortunately, that no longer appears to be the case. Grant's production has increased across the board, averaging 19.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists on much more efficient 45/40/84 shooting splits.
Portland's Grant's problems haven't disappeared entirely. He's still significantly overpaid at $102.6 million over the next three seasons (including a player option in 2027-28). But the only question that matters is whether Grant's contract is so bad that it immediately turns teams away.
It previously appeared that Portland was stuck with Grant. The most logical landing spot was a rebuilding team with cap space, such as the Brooklyn Nets, willing to take on Grant if Portland incentivized them by attaching draft capital -- something the rebuilding Blazers weren't willing to do. However, these recent developments could have borderline contenders reconsider whether Portland's expensive veteran is now worth it.
In terms of assets required relative to on-court production, there's not going to be a better bargain on the market than Grant, who should cost just a salary filler. That could be a viable pathway for desperate teams looking to upgrade their rosters by February's trade deadline. Teams that have the dreadful combination of limited assets to upgrade their rosters and a lack of future draft capital to rebuild come to mind, such as the Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks, depending on how this situation with Giannis Antetokounmpo plays out in the coming weeks.
You could make the case that adding Grant won't be the needle mover these teams need and will only dig them into a deeper hole. But that's their problem, not Portland's. The Blazers just need someone to take the bait this trade season.
While that previously looked impossible, there's reason to believe the likelihood of that working out in Portland's favor has increased -- thanks to the hot start of Brandon Ingram and the Raptors.