It will be hard for the Portland Trail Blazers to spin this pivotal offseason as a success if Jerami Grant is still on the roster to start the 2025-26 season. Sure, other veterans are taking away roles and minutes from players. But you can at least make a case to keep every other player on Portland's roster.
Jerami Grant is blocking Portland's rebuild on multiple fronts
Grant doesn't fit the Blazers' timeline; he's the oldest player on the team at 31 years old. He's also owed over $100 million in the next three years. That doesn't seem like a significant problem right now, as the Blazers currently have plenty of financial flexibility with all their rookie-scale deals and substantial contracts set to expire. But it will become burdensome when they have to retain their entire core, not to mention trying to add to it. The salary cap is set to increase by ten percent in 2025-26, but that's also mitigated by the new CBA, making teams much more financially crunched.
Grant's contract is a massive overpay for someone coming off a down year in which he averaged 14.4 points while shooting an inefficient 37.3 percent from the field, especially considering the one-dimensionality of his game as someone who doesn't contribute much outside of scoring.
More importantly, the Blazers no longer need Grant as much thanks to two wings who are proving to be major steals -- Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija. Those two have emerged as Portland's core pieces and must-starts on its roster. If Grant does stay, it would be in the Blazers' best interest for Chauncey Billups to bring him off the bench. That's one expensive bench player.
Beyond Avdija, who has arguably the most team-friendly deal in the league, Grant is the only non-rookie-scale contract for 2026-27. So even if the Blazers don't trade veterans like Deandre Ayton, Robert Williams III, Matisse Thybulle, or Anfernee Simons, they have control of the situation in that they can either extend them to reasonable deals or let them walk and clear the path for their young core. With Grant, there's no flexibility.
How can the Blazers actually pull off a Grant trade?
The problem is that other teams are aware of this, too. They won't take on Portland's headache unless heavily incentivized -- a significant change from when Joe Cronin was laughably asking for two first-round picks just last summer.
Despite this reality, Portland must get off Grant's contract by any means necessary this offseason. It's their most essential move of the entire summer.
A few options they could explore include trading back in the draft with a team like the Nets, who hold picks No. 8, 19, 26, and 27. Or they could attach draft capital to send him to the Hornets, a team Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes recently named as having Grant as an 'ambitious trade target.'
It's far more likely Portland will find a rebuilding team willing to absorb Grant's contract with picks attached than a contender looking to add him as their missing piece, especially given his multi-year deal.
But regardless of the specific trade details, the Blazers must move Grant this summer. Their rebuild depends on it.