Jerami Grant has been a player that has been on the trade block ever since he signed with Detroit. He’s shown that he can play as a quality role player in Denver and Oklahoma City as well as a number one option in Detroit. Detroit finally looked to move on from him in the final year of his deal. With Portland looking to compete with Damian Lillard, Grant became the perfect option. Both teams seemed to get what they wanted in the trade.
Jerami Grant Trade Grade
The Trade:
Portland gets: Jerami Grant + 46th pick
Detroit gets: 2025 first-round pick via Milwaukee + 2025 second-round pick + 36th pick
Portland Grade: A
There were trade talks revolving around Grant being traded for Portland’s 7th overall pick in this year’s draft. Portland was able to bring in a second option to pair alongside Lillard that really plays to his skills without moving on from such high draft capital. In fact, they don’t even give up one of their own picks so they have the ability to rebuild at any point without stressing about giving up a high lottery pick.
In previous years Portland’s second option had been C.J. McCollum who’s another undersized guard that hurt them defensively. Grant is a player that as a 6’8″ wing can use his length to have a high impact on the defensive side of the ball. Portland had been targeting a bigger player to pair alongside Lillard after they moved on from McCollum at the trade deadline. Bringing in a player as good as Grant who averaged 19.2 points and shot 35.8% from three will completely change Portland’s offense. This will be the best wing Lillard has played alongside since playing with LaMarcus Aldridge.
Portland was also able to hold onto Anfernee Simons in this trade as well. This means they will be in the process of competing for the playoffs while still having young players in Simons and the 7th overall pick to help the rebuilding process in the future. Simons was able to average 17.3 points without Lillard last season and may be able to slide over to the shooting guard position to start alongside Lillard.
Detroit Grade: B-
Detroit is in a full rebuild after selecting Cade Cunningham first overall in the draft last year. Grant was a player that gave this team wins when they didn’t need them to. This caused them to get the 5th overall pick in this year’s draft. In a top four heavy draft, this isn’t ideal for a team looking for a star to pair alongside Cunningham.
Since Grant is in the last year of his deal getting rid of him seemed to be a necessity. This move gave them draft capital for the future that may allow them to bring in a quality rookie eventually. It could also be used as a future trade asset allowing them more time to make moves. They also moved up in the draft giving them a better second-round pick. They should look to capitalize on this and bring in a young player who can crack their rotation.
This move also helped free up cap space for Detroit. After getting off Grant’s $20 million contract Detroit is set to have $43 million in cap space. This helps Detroit as they’re in the market for young restricted free agents such as Deandre Ayton and Miles Bridges.
This grade could’ve been higher due to Grant seeming to have a bigger market than what resulted. All Detroit got in return is a most likely late first-round pick due to it being owned by Milwaukee. The fact of the matter is it depends on what Detroit does with the pick and extra cap space to determine how good of a move this truly is.
