Portland Trail Blazers All-Star guard Damian Lillard is the talk of the NBA water cooler after the future Hall of Famer requested a trade over the weekend.
Lillard is not happy about the trajectory of the organization and made that clear by requesting to be dealt.
As that situation was playing out, Portland shockingly re-signed forward Jerami Grant to a five-year, $160 million contract. Sure Grant is a pretty darn good two-way forward. However, paying him $32 million per season while in the initial stages of a rebuild doesn’t seem to make too much sense.
According to this note from Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Grant is now a player to monitor on the NBA trade market.
“Another trade candidate to monitor down the line will be Jerami Grant, who agreed to a five-year, $160 million deal with the Blazers before the team received word that Lillard wanted out of Portland,” report on the Portland Trail Blazers potentially moving Jerami Grant.
There are a few different things to look at here. First off, we’re surprised that the Blazers were caught off guard by Lillard’s trade request. Apparently, the team didn’t know it was coming when it signed Grant to the aforementioned contract in NBA free agency.
Secondly, it seems highly unlikely that Portland will receive a good return for Grant given his $32 million average annual salary. The 29-year-old three-and-D wing has yet to earn an All-Star appearance in nine seasons.
Related: Why Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard’s trade request seemed inevitable
Jerami Grant stats (2022-23): 20.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 48% shooting, 40% 3-point
As you can see, Grant played at a high level in his first season with the Pacific Northwest. He can shoot the ball and plays solid defense out on the perimeter.
But at this point in the NBA offseason, it’s hard to fathom a team creating the necessary cap room to acquire Grant without sending substantial salaries back to the Blazers.
The Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves are teams that have a need at the three and could potentially make a play for Grant.
Even then, we expect the Lillard situation to play out before Grant is potentially moved ahead of the 2023-24 season.
