Portland is now entering a challenging phase of its rebuild, trying to balance ending a four-year playoff drought while continuing the development of its young core. With that being the case, it's hard to justify keeping Jerami Grant around on the roster.
The 2025 NBA Finals should have Trail Blazers fans excited about the trajectory of their team, as the strength of their roster lies in their depth. Having seven startable players is a luxury, but it also presents a dilemma for head coach Chauncey Billups.
Could the Blazers bring Jerami Grant off the bench?
If Grant is willing to accept a bench role, then trading him wouldn't be as dire; it would ultimately depend on how many assets Portland would have to attach in order to offload his salary of $102.6 million over the next three seasons (including a player option).
Grant could potentially have a bounce-back season after averaging just 14.4 points and 3.5 rebounds while shooting an inefficient 37.3 percent from the field last season. He also gives the Blazers more forward depth and floor spacing, two areas they still need to address.
But would Grant even be open to a bench role? Even then, the cons significantly outweigh the pros.
Why Portland needs to explore a Grant trade regardless
By trading for Jrue Holiday, the Blazers have accelerated their rebuild -- something that was already happening naturally during the second half of the season as their young core took significant strides. Surprisingly, Zach Lowe recently proposed a starting lineup on The Zach Lowe Show that doesn't even include Holiday: Scoot Henderson, Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija, Jerami Grant, and Deandre Ayton.
"That's one iteration of their starting five -- it's one where both Shaedon Sharpe and Jrue Holiday come off the bench. Could you start one of them? Absolutely. I don't know who you could take out of the starting five. Could you coax Jerami Grant? Jerami Grant is probably like, 'I'm the guy,'" Lowe said.
The Blazers want to make the playoffs, and the best way to achieve that suddenly realistic goal is to start the three players who would be starters on just about any playoff team: Holiday, Camara, and Avdija. Throw in center Ayton or Donovan Clingan into the mix, and suddenly, Portland has just one spot left between Grant, Henderson, and Sharpe. It's already not ideal that Henderson and Sharpe may not start, but keeping Grant around only makes matters more complicated than necessary.
By swapping Anfernee Simons for Holiday, the Blazers now have arguably two of the worst contracts in the league between Holiday and Grant. Having those two on the books for the next three seasons is the type of roster that results in purgatory. It relies too much on the development of its young core because of its limited ability to bring in external upgrades.
Currently, Portland intends to keep Holiday around, meaning that the surprising trade added yet another reason to dump Grant. To give themselves financial flexibility and more starting lineup clarity, trading Grant is the most important thing the Blazers can do this offseason. It's hard to spin him remaining on the roster to start the 2025-26 season as a positive.