With the 2024 NBA trade deadline less than four weeks away, it's time for general manager Joe Cronin and the Portland Trail Blazers front office to begin soul-searching. With a chance of a higher draft pick always in mind, the franchise wants to close out the season by seeing improvement in its young cornerstone pieces.
The futility needed to earn that high draft pick has been obvious. The improvement part, not always so much.
So what does Portland want to do by Feb. 8? Does Cronin want to keep some veteran players such as Matisse Thybulle, Jerami Grant and Malcolm Brogdon around as leaders and buffers or does he sell high and let the young guys improve by getting more minutes and taking their lumps?
5 best trade landing spots for Jerami Grant
Grant has been the Blazers' best player this season, and while he may not be Portland's most valuable trade asset because of his five-year, $160 million contract, he's one of the best and most productive players theoretically available if Cronin is open to dealing him.
The 29-year-old has played at a borderline all-star level this year, scoring 21.1 points per game and hitting a career-high 41.1 percent from three. His defense has tailed off a bit, but he's still athletic, rangy and intelligent.
A player with with Grant's offensive production, defensive capabilities and willingness to play a role - he settled in well as a third option last season in Portland alongside Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons - should be attractive to contenders looking to grab a three-and-D combo forward.
(As a bonus, acquiring teams wouldn't have to shell out max money in the offseason or risk losing a player entirely as they would with Pascal Siakam.)
These teams are the best fits for Grant's two-way production if the Blazers are willing to deal.
5. Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons have already participated in this year's trade deadline extravaganza, dealing Marvin Bagley III and Isaiah Livers to the Washington Wizards for Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala.
Sure, Gallinari and Muscala could provide some floor spacing for a historically awful Pistons team shooting 34.4 percent from three this season, but realistically the trade increases Detroit's offseason cap space to potentially around $60 million. But what free agents are the Pistons attracting?
None. So if you can't sign a player with your open cap space, maybe you can trade for one. Say, one already under contract for another four seasons who's already spent two years (2020-21, '21-22) in Detroit as the team's go-to scorer. Grant could land back in the Motor City in a similar role.
4. Golden State Warriors
The Warriors are reportedly open for business and willing to deal anyone not named Stephen Curry. Golden State needs size, but it also needs more production on the wing.
Andrew Wiggins has struggled all season, but he was one of the key pieces on the Warriors' 2022 NBA Championship team. If Golden State GM Mike Dunleavy and head coach Steve Kerr can land an upgrade at that spot, it would go a long way toward moving their team closer to the playoff (or play-in) picture.
Grant is a similar player to Wiggins - long, athletic and springy. He's not the same defender Wiggins was in the 2022 postseason, but he's a superior offensive player. He would fit around Curry and Draymond Green as a spot-up shooter and is a better shot-creator than Klay Thompson at this point in his career.
It wouldn't solve all the Warriors' problems, but trading for Grant would solidify a crucial role Golden State hasn't been able to fill this season.
3. Sacramento Kings
Sacramento showed some interest in acquiring Siakam, but the Raptors forward reportedly wants no part of the Kings. Grant would be a solid plan B.
The Blazers' forward would come at a cheaper price. Sacramento is unwilling to include Keegan Murray in any deal; that might preclude them from landing someone like Siakam, but it wouldn't stop them from acquiring Grant.
In fact, plugging the 29-year-old into the starting lineup alongside Murray would give head coach Mike Brown another scorer and spot-up shooter capable of defending multiple positions. Grant would become 1 of 5 Kings currently scoring 15 or more points per game.
A quartet of De'Aaron Fox, Murray, Donantas Sabonis and Grant would be prolific on offense and a little more passable on defense than one that includes Harrison Barnes, Kevin Huerter or Malik Monk.
2. Indiana Pacers
The Pacers are reportedly hard on Siakam's tail but are understandably reluctant to part with prospects Jarace Walker or Bennedict Mathurin for a player who may end up spending less than half a season in Indiana.
Again, enter plan B Jerami Grant.
Portland should do everything it can to land Walker if Cronin sends Grant to the Midwest. However, other options could still be attractive to the Blazers, including Buddy Hield's expiring salary, a few of the Pacers' eight first-round picks between 2024 and 2030, and lesser-heralded young players such as Isaiah Jackson, Jalen Smith, Ben Sheppard, Andrew Nembhard and Oscar Tshiebwe.
Putting Grant next to a point guard like Tyrese Haliburton - for the rest of this season and the next four - would unlock the best in what he has to offer offensively. Adding his athleticism and 7-1 wingspan to a group that includes Myles Turner, Haliburton and theoretically Mathurin would give Indiana more switchability than it has now with Hield, Bruce Brown and Obi Toppin.
1. Dallas Mavericks
Any team with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving is in perpetual win-now mode, which is the situation the Dallas Mavericks find themselves in. And as has been the case since Doncic arrived in Texas, the Mavs are in desperate need of three-and-D forwards.
Rookie center Dereck Lively II has been a pleasant surprise for Dallas as a rim protector. Grant Williams is a good defender against bigger forwards. But the Mavericks still find themselves in the bottom half of the league in defensive rating and despite having shooters like Doncic and Irving, are 14th in the NBA in 3-point percentage.
Grant is a plug-and-play option who would immediately elevate Dallas from a play-in caliber team to a potential top-four seed in the Western Conference.
Perhaps most attractive of all is the 10-year veteran's willingness to play as a tertiary option next to ball-dominant guards Luka and Kyrie while still being able to carry an offense for stretches as he's shown this season with the Blazers.