Ranking 4 lucrative trade packages for Blazers to deal Jerami Grant
By Reese Kunz
No. 3: Hawks add another win-now piece
Grant to Hawks
There's a new era of Atlanta Hawks basketball after trading Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans and landing the No. 1 overall pick, Zaccharie Risacher. According to the Hawks' CEO Steve Koonin on Dukes & Bell, Trae Young could be their oldest starter in the 2024-25 season. Young is only 25 years old, meaning Clint Capela and De'Andre Hunter would be out of the starting lineup.
Trading for someone like Grant, who is 30 years old, maybe contradictory. However, the San Antonio Spurs have the rights to the Hawks' first-round picks for the next three years. The Hawks may be retooling around Risacher and the ascending Jalen Johnson. Still, they shouldn't be completely rebuilding without having their own draft picks (which the Brooklyn Nets wisely realized when they reacquired their own picks from the Houston Rockets).
Grant makes sense for the Hawks as a potential trade target because he's someone who will immediately boost their level of play but is also incredibly versatile and can play multiple positions; this would help Atlanta, who has an unknown future surrounding what they decide to do with the rest of their roster. Risacher can play shooting guard or small forward, and Johnson can play small or power forward. Adding Grant couldn't hurt, given their lineup flexibility and the relatively low cost of acquiring him.
Meanwhile, the Blazers get a first-round pick, but it's from the Lakers, who could contend for a playoff spot next season as long as LeBron James and Anthony Davis remain healthy. De'Andre Hunter is a younger and cheaper version of Grant. It could be a shrewd acquisition to surround the remaining Blazers' emerging core with another dependable player with a high floor, similar to what they did when trading with the Wizards for Deni Avdija.