The Portland Trail Blazers are a wild-card team to keep an eye on heading into the offseason, as they can take this roster in a variety of different directions under new owner Tom Dundon. But if teams have any interest in Jerami Grant, which path Portland takes this summer should become much clearer.
Blazers general manager Joe Cronin has held onto Grant for far too long. It was apparent he didn't fit into Portland's rebuild literally the day after he inked the massive five-year, $160 million deal in 2023, as Damian Lillard requested a trade just one day later. Cronin has had multiple opportunities to move on, yet Grant has somehow become one of his favorites.
Blazers need to trade Jerami Grant while they still can
Cronin's reputation as a firm negotiator has helped Portland win the vast majority of its trades throughout this rebuild, whether it's fleecing the Bucks in the Lillard trade (stealing Toumani Camara in the process), buying low on Deni Avdija, or last summer's Jrue Holiday acquisition.
While he deserves a ton of credit for shaping Portland's rebuild via trade, we also must criticize the trades that haven't been made because of these firm stances. He even previously had an asking price of two first-round picks for Grant, which an anonymous scout called "laughable."
Of course, that never materialized, and Grant's concerning 2024-25 season quickly saw Portland with a negative asset on its hands.
That narrative has somewhat changed thanks to Grant's bounce-back season in which he averaged 18.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game. Still, that's a steep price for Portland to pay for a one-dimensional score-first player who has been demoted to a sixth man role.
He also didn't quite come to play in the postseason when Portland needed its veterans the most, as his production declined to 10.4 points per game in that five-game stretch.
Hopefully, Grant has shown enough signs of life overall for a team to take him off Portland's hands. It would have to be a specific team that is desperate enough to upgrade their roster to the point where they are willing, or maybe even forced to, overlook Grant's salary. A team that wants to win now but has limited assets to make that a reality, such as the Phoenix Suns or Milwaukee Bucks, depending on how the Giannis Antetokounmpo saga unfolds.
If Portland has yet another opportunity to move Grant, they absolutely should. They'd miss his scoring and floor spacing, considering that's been a flaw of Portland's roster throughout this entire rebuild. But getting out of this contract has to take precedence over any roster fit they can address elsewhere. It's the bigger piece of the puzzle that needs to be solved.
Now, it's just a matter of Cronin actually wanting to solve that puzzle.
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