Who the Trail Blazers should trade next is painfully obvious

The Portland Trail Blazers have a confusing roster that is currently in a place where no team wants to be - "no man's land." As evidenced by their 7-12 record, the Blazers have enough quality players to not be bottom-feeders in the league. However, they don't have enough star talent to be considered legitimate playoff contenders, especially in the competitive Western Conference.

GM Joe Cronin needs to pick a lane, and since it's not logical to go all in at this point in the rebuild, they have to go the opposite direction, which is trading away veterans for younger players, future draft capital, or a combination of the two. With that being the case, it makes the most sense to trade away established players, including Jerami Grant, Matisse Thybulle, and one of Deandre Ayton or Robert Williams III. Of these, Grant should be the first player to be moved.

Joe Cronin needs to trade Jerami Grant

Grant is the odd man out of the Blazers' rebuilding equation as the oldest player on their roster (30 years old). Here's what Grant is owed for the next few seasons:

2024-25: $29,793,104

2025-26: $32,000,001

2026-27: $34,206,898

2027-28: $36,413,790 (player option)

By Grant's high standards, he's had a down season. He's averaging 16.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.1 blocks per game on 38/35/82 shooting splits. One could make the case that the Blazers need to hang on to Grant until he starts playing better to boost his trade value, similar to what they've done with Williams. But Grant isn't an injury-prone player, and he's had a large enough sample size being in the league for 11 seasons that teams know and should be confident that he's bound for positive regression.

The challenge lies in getting Grant's hefty contract to match in a potential deal, but that would still be the case if the Blazers decided to move someone like Ayton instead, who is owed roughly four million more than Grant this season. Williams and Thybulle are players the Blazers should consider moving before the deadline, but they aren't eating into roles or minutes for up-and-coming players to the same extent that Grant is.

Grant is averaging 32.3 minutes per game and taking up a valuable starting role for a Blazers team that is having difficulty deciding who their starters should be. It would create more opportunities for players like Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija to step up, who should be considered long-term pieces of their rebuild. It would also allow the Blazers to see what they have in pieces like Kris Murray, Rayan Rupert, and Jabari Walker, whose minutes have been limited whenever the Blazers have had a fully healthy roster.

This season, the Blazers' four goals should be roster clarity, player development, rebuilding by acquiring future assets, and putting themselves in position for a top draft pick in 2025. Moving Grant checks all four boxes.