The Portland Trail Blazers will have to make some realignments within the team, which could include parting ways with some of the bigger contracts.
Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey presents a trade scenario that sends Jerami Grant to the Toronto Raptors for Bruce Brown, a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 second-round pick. Painted.
Grant's contract is expensive (he runs through 2027-28 with a $36.4 million player option), but he averaged 20.7 points and shot 40.2 percent from deep in his two seasons with Portland.
For Portland, this is almost entirely about getting out from under the Grant contract signed before the Damian Lillard trade last summer. This deal does that, while also slightly improving the team's draft prospects and giving Brown another veteran who can be replaced by February.
The longer the Blazers keep Grant under contract, and the older he gets, the harder it may be for Portland to trade him. The Blazers value what he brings as a teammate and veteran, but he could prevent the team from moving forward with a huge contract.
Grant has four years left on his contract, so the hope is that Portland can get more than an expiring contract, a pick swap and an additional second-round pick. However, given the length of his contract, his value is not that high.
That's why the Blazers won't trade Grant and either hope his value improves or wait until the benefits of keeping him outweigh the drawbacks.
