The Portland Trail Blazers had a strong offseason with key additions and subtractions, improving their long-term outlook as they clear the runway for their young core. However, they still have a $160 million elephant named Jerami Grant in the room. Under the new CBA, Portland would be wise to get off the three years remaining in Grant's massive contract, especially since they must extend their young core in the coming seasons.
Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report recently proposed a trade that would address that problem for Portland, sending Grant to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Here is the deal in full:
Hughes created trades for each team's best asset, listing Tyler Smith for Milwaukee.
"Smith, for the record, maybe can't do anything at this level—he saw 122 NBA minutes as a rookie—but there's at least the idea of him becoming a 6'11" floor-spacer who can handle and dish a bit, too. That combo could be just exciting enough for Milwaukee to turn the disappointing Kuzma into the overpaid-but-useful-on-a-good-team Grant," Hughes wrote.
Could the Blazers really fleece Milwaukee again?
It's not an exciting return for Portland, but it shows how much their Damian Lillard trade and Joe Cronin's best against Milwaukee's flawed and aging roster is paying off.
This deal would be a win for the Blazers in more ways than one. Financially, they'd swap Grant's three-year, $103 million remaining deal for Kuzma's two-year, $43 million. And although Grant is still a better player than the black hole that is Kyle Kuzma, it would still further increase the value of the draft capital Milwaukee owes Portland, as they would have a more difficult time upgrading their roster between Grant's contract and the dead money from Lillard's buyout.
Kuzma's tendency to be a ball stopper isn't ideal for the Blazers' young core, but this trade would make the most out of a bad situation. Cronin would have to navigate the roster constraints as Portland already has all 15 spots filled after signing Blake Wesley, but it's worth the inconvenience.
The larger issue is whether Milwaukee would actually do this without draft capital included. Grant's numbers last season weren't that far off from Kuzma's, and the talent gap isn't enough to justify the financial gap without Portland including (or Milwaukee getting back some of their own) draft picks.
That's where this deal would likely fall apart. Grant isn't the needle mover Milwaukee needs to save a crumbling roster -- his contract and declining play would only add to their problems. Meanwhile, the Blazers made it clear that they don't want to sacrifice future assets just to dump Grant, which is why he's still in Portland despite the roster headache.
We keep returning to this stalemate in trade negotiations for why a Grant deal would never get done. Unfortunately, it seems as though this Grant puzzle is unsolvable, and the Blazers' most realistic option at this point is to bring their overpaid forward off the bench.
But hey, Portland fleeced Milwaukee once already. If the Bucks want to make this deal, who are we to stop them?