NBA Trade Idea: Portland Trail Blazers' Jerami Grant Good Fit for Dallas Mavs?

The Dallas Mavericks are still likely a piece or two away from being true tile contenders, and Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant could be that final piece to the puzzle.

Dalton Trigg | Dec 17, 2023

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Through 25 games, the Dallas Mavericks are sitting pretty with a 16-9 record, which is good for third-place in a tightly-contested Western Conference. Even with sixth-year star Luka Doncic producing at an MVP level, though, there is a sense that the Mavs are still a piece or two away from becoming a true championship contender.

The Mavs' biggest roster needs have been easy to identify, as they could really use some more size on the wing, as well as some upgraded center depth behind breakout rookie big man Dereck Lively II. With that being said, could Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant be the answer?

USATSI_22123694 — Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports

The 29-year-old versatile wing is having a nice season in Portland, averaging 22.4 points while shooting 44.7 percent from the field, including 40.7 percent from deep. And if Saturday night any kind of audition, Grant knocked it out of the park as the Mavs beat the Blazers, 131-120. Grant finished with 27 points and five rebounds on 12-20 shooting.

Given that the Blazers, currently 6-18 on the season, are a rebuilding team after moving on from star point guard Damian Lillard in the offseason, it's feasible to think they might look to move on from Grant, who can't be traded until Jan. 15, before February's trade deadline if the losses continue to pile up.

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Not only is Grant nearly 30 years old, meaning he could potentially want to be in more of a winning situation at some point while still being in his prime, but his five-year, $160 million contract could become a tough pill for the Portland front office to swallow if it doesn't start translating to winning.

In theory, the Mavs could offer a package like Grant Williams, Maxi Kleber, Jaden Hardy and some light draft compensation. As of right now, it's probably unlikely that the Blazers would be interested in that kind of return for Grant, but the NBA trade market is always a fluid situation, and many things can change over the next month and a half.

Published Dec 17, 2023

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.