The Trail Blazers Case For Keeping Or Trading Jerami Grant At The NBA Trade Deadline

By Torey Jones

Contributor, 750 The Game

Jerami Grant is the best forward left on the trade market… if the Blazers elect to shop him. The organization is in the first year of a committed rebuild but is already at a crossroads. Will they add to a core with a balance of veterans and youth, or will they go all-in on a youth movement and trade players such as Malcolm Brogdon (view his trade profile here) and Jerami Grant? While trading Brogdon seems more likely, trading Grant would signify that the Blazers are fully committed to a youth movement with a window further down the line.

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The Blazers forward should have a lot of value in a market full of buyers, and while his contract was looked at as a slight overpay across the league (Grant makes $27.6 million this season, and his salary rises to $36.4 million in the final year of his deal), he’s played well enough to justify the financial investment. Portland is in a position to extract value out of a Grant trade, but there are several doubts that they’ll shop the forward before Thursday’s trade deadline.

The Case for Keeping Jerami Grant 

Grant is the best forward the Blazers have had since LaMarcus Aldridge, and he’s shooting a phenomenal 40.3 percent from three for a team that has otherwise struggled shooting from behind the arc. He’s a veteran presence in a young locker room, a good culture guy, and is only in Portland because he wanted to play with Damian Lillard. Despite Lillard being gone, he’s still embraced being a Blazer. Oh yeah, and his pre-game fits are nice, too.

The Case For Trading Jerami Grant

Grant turns 30 years old on March 12th and, at some point, will decline due to age. Will he still be the same caliber of player when this young core is ready to seriously contend? The Blazers could be better served by trading Grant for picks or young players who can have more of an impact when they’re prepared to win playoff games. Getting back expiring contracts in such a trade will allow Portland to shed salary this off-season, giving them more flexibility to use tools such as the Mid-Level Exception (MLE) while remaining below the luxury tax line.

Verdict

The Blazers should shop Jerami Grant but only trade him for the right offer. It’s less crucial for Portland to trade Grant than it is with Malcolm Brogdon, but Grant will be closer to his mid-30s when this team is ready to win. The recipe for a successful rebuild includes flexibility, draft picks, and young players, and Portland has a chance to hit on all three in a Grant trade.

Asking Price

Portland’s asking price should be the equivalent of two first-round, or at least an unprotected future first-round pick that has the potential to be at the top of the draft (for example, an unprotected first-round pick from the Denver Nuggets would be better if it was in 2030 than in 2025).

Pursuing an unprotected first-round pick between 2028 and 2030 would give the Blazers another high-upside asset in a time frame where they already have unprotected first-round picks in 2029 from Boston and Milwaukee and the right to swap first-round picks with the Bucks in 2028 and 2030. Portland’s positioning for an all-in trade for a legitimate star once their young core comes of age could be the recipe for a championship.

If the Blazers can’t get an unprotected first-round pick, then a combination of two lightly protected firsts or one first and a good young player makes sense.

Top Landing Spots

Philadelphia 76ers – A return to where Grant started his career could be in the cards. The 76ers have been impressive this year under new head coach Nick Nurse, and adding Grant will make them a more formidable opponent in the Eastern Conference playoffs. But with Joel Embiid set to miss a substantial amount of time with a torn meniscus, there are questions about their direction at the deadline.

Los Angeles Lakers – The Lakers are floundering this season despite the efforts of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and a big reason why is the need for a third option to take the pressure off those two offensively. The Lakers could offer an unprotected first in 2029 or 2030 on top of a quality salary piece in Rui Hachimura, who has multiple years left on his deal but produces enough to be considered a positive trade asset and someone whose age aligns more with Portland’s rebuild and who could replace some of Grant’s minutes at power forward.

Dallas Mavericks – Dallas has been pursuing a versatile scoring forward and has reported interest in Grant. However, the Mavericks only have one first-round pick they can trade, and prized rookie center Derrick Lively II is assumed to be unattainable for Portland.

My Favorite Trade

Portland Trail Blazers Get: Nicolas Batum, Jock Landale, Furkan Korkmaz, 2026 1st Round Pick (Worst of Oklahoma City, Houston, and LA Clippers), 2029 1st Round Pick (Best of Philadelphia [unprotected] and LA Clippers [Top 3 Protected]), 15.8M Trade Exception

Philadelphia 76ers Get: Jerami Grant

Houston Rockets Get: Robert Covington

This trade gives Portland flexibility as all three players are expiring contracts, and including Houston in the deal helps Portland produce a $15.8 million trade exception (which can now be used as free agent money under the new collective bargaining agreement). Portland gets a high-upside first-round pick in 2029, receiving the best pick between the 76ers and Clippers unless the Clippers pick is in the top three. This would give the Blazers three unprotected 2029 first-round picks from other teams. While the 2026 first-round pick is likely to be in the late 20s, it’s another first round pick, making this trade a win for Portland.

I’ll have a livestream on Thursday covering the NBA trade deadline on my YouTube channel, Blazers Uprise.

Torey Jones is a Trail Blazers contributor to 750TheGame.com. He is the founder of Blazers Uprise and his work can be found throughout the season on 750TheGame.com.