Jerami Grant, Blazers Reportedly Agree to 5-Year, $160M Contract to Return to POR

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Jerami Grant is returning to the Pacific Northwest after agreeing to a five-year, $160 million contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

The 6’8″ forward averaged 20.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in his first season on the team. He also shot 47.5 percent from the field and 40.1 percent from beyond the arc, the latter of which was a career high.

The front office was stuck between a rock and a hard place when it came to Grant.

Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer reported in January he turned down a four-year, $112 million offer, which was the most Portland was allowed to put on the table at the time. His earning power didn’t diminish in the months since, while the team’s need to keep him increased.

The Trail Blazers missed the playoffs for the second straight year and finished 13th in the Western Conference at 33-49. During their exit interviews, basically all of the key figures within the organization made it clear they were sick of losing.

Damian Lillard also indicated he was expecting Grant to remain with Portland moving forward.

If general manager Joe Cronin thought he might be able to play hardball with the 29-year-old, that idea went out the window. Put simply, the Blazers couldn’t afford to let him leave and had to write him a blank check this offseason.

The Dallas Mavericks are a prime example of how this situation can go wrong.

The Mavs botched their negotiations with Jalen Brunson when he was still under contract, and he signed with the New York Knicks as a free agent last summer. With Brunson thriving in the Big Apple, former teammate Luka Dončić was left to lament how costly his departure was.

You can raise fair questions over Grant’s individual value to the Trail Blazers. The Detroit Pistons were terrible when he was a high-usage player there, and Portland wasn’t much better when he had to shoulder a bigger load while Lillard was injured.

But letting Grant walk wasn’t really feasible.

Like the Mavs with Brunson, the Blazers lacked the salary-cap space to sign a direct replacement for Grant, and they’re presumably saving their best trade assets to land a true star who’s at or near Lillard’s level.

In general, this could be a pivotal offseason with regard to Lillard’s long-term future in Portland.

Nobody questions the seven-time All-Star’s commitment level right now, and he has a two-year, $121.8 million extension that carries him through the 2026-27 season. His loyalty may have its limits, though.

Lillard’s comments after the year ended were pretty straightforward. He wants to see tangible signs of progress from the franchise. Those necessary improvements weren’t going to happen by losing a key player to free agency.

Maybe the Blazers are just kicking the can down the road and making an inevitable rebuild even more painful by still trying to pry open a championship window. An overwhelming trade offer for Lillard that sets the stage for the next era will be difficult to demand when he’s 35 years old and making $58.5 million.

But Portland’s objectives in the short term are clear. Cronin is trying to build a winner around Lillard, and Grant absolutely had to figure into those plans.