Jerami Grant is officially the odd man out of the Portland Trail Blazers' starting lineup on opening night. Chauncey Billups recently announced that he will start Jrue Holiday, Shaedon Sharpe, Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija, and Donovan Clingan when Portland takes on the Minnesota Timberwolves.
For Grant, this decision has to come as a surprise. Last season, he averaged just 14.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists on 37/37/85 shooting splits. Despite the down year, Grant said at media day that he doesn't expect to come off the bench this season. While that quote was blown out of proportion, it still was telling.
Not only will he likely be unhappy, but it will also make it even harder for Portland to move off of his albatross contract.
Jerami Grant coming off the bench makes him untradeable
Prior to this decision, the Blazers were already sitting on one of the most significant negative assets in the league. Accounting for a player option in 2027-28 (that he'd be foolish not to pick up), Grant is still owed $102.6 million over the next three seasons. Portland is paying someone north of $100 million to bring him off the bench.
While the money could be a factor in how Grant takes this demotion, it has to hurt that he's coming off the bench for a team with no expectations of making the postseason. It would be one thing if he were embracing a diminished role as a necessary sacrifice on a stacked contender. Conversely, it would be another situation if, like countless other players, he "gets his" with "empty stats" on a bad team as the primary scoring option. But it turns out that Grant already had his time as an overpaid primary option for Portland.
Billups and the Blazers have decided to take their starting unit in another direction, as it was apparent that starting Grant was never going to yield the results in terms of Portland having a high enough ceiling for a deep playoff run. While we think this decision is ultimately in the Blazers' best long-term interest and should have fans excited about the way they've embraced their youth movement this offseason, it's not all black-and-white.
There were pros and cons to bringing either Sharpe or Grant off the bench. It now raises the question of what happens with Grant's future as a Blazer. Portland has made it clear they don't want to attach valuable future assets to dump Grant, but that's looking increasingly likely as the only realistic path to moving him. With that being the case, Grant is now stuck in limbo on this rebuilding Blazers team, coming off the bench as an overpaid veteran and complicating Portland's roster.