November 27, 2024

REPORT » Blazers Acquire Jerami Grant From Pistons For 2025 First Round Pick

Blazers #Blazers

The Trail Blazers have reportedly made their first move of the offseason, and it’s a big one. 

According to Adrian Wojnowski, the Trail Blazers are sending Milwaukee’s 2025 first round pick, which the team acquired as a part of the trade with the New Orleans Pelicans at the 2022 trade deadline, and some various second round draft capital for combo forward and Portland native Jerami Grant…

The Portland Trail Blazers are acquiring Detroit Pistons forward Jerami Grant for a protected 2025 first-round pick and additional draft assets, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

The Blazers have been pursuing Grant to pair with All-NBA guard Damian Lillard for over a year and now land him and absorb his $21 million salary using a trade exception, sources said.

The Bucks’ pick is protected 1-4, and the deal includes Detroit acquiring the Portland Trail Blazers’ No. 36 pick in Thursday’s NBA draft for the Blazers’ at No. 46, as well as a 2025 second-round pick back that Detroit had owed Portland, sources said. The Pistons also get a 2026 second-round pick from the Blazers, which will be the most favorable between Portland’s and the New Orleans Pelicans’.

Also worth pointing out here that this trade could not have happened were it not for the trade exception created in the trade with the Pelicans. 

Grant, a 6-8 forward who is the son of former Trail Blazer Harvey Grant, was selected by the 76ers out of Syracuse with the 39th pick of the 2014 Draft. After two-plus seasons in Philadelphia, Grant was traded to Oklahoma City and played there for another two-plus seasons before being traded to Denver, where he played for one season before being signed-and-traded to Detroit. He’ll reportedly earn nearly $21 million next season, the final year of a three-year deal. 

Portland’s interest in acquiring Grant has been no secret, but trading the seventh pick in the upcoming draft seemed too high of a price for a player with just one year left on his current contract. And on the Detroit side, there seemed to be an assumption that a draft pick might not be enough to acquire the veteran forward who averaged 19.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists for the Pistons last season.

But in the end, it turns out Portland’s interest was persistent and Detroit’s asking price wasn’t as high as previously thought, leading to the two teams reportedly coming to an agreement a little more than 24 hours before Thursday’s Draft. Portland currently owns the seventh, 46th and 57th picks. 

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