Blazers Could Land All-Star Forward in Exchange For Jerami Grant

Portland could take a big swing with this proposed trade.

Jan 28, 2025; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers small forward Jerami Grant (9) warms up before the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-Imagn Images / Soobum Im-Imagn Images

Can the Portland Trail Blazers add some major equity and more future flexibility in a deal to offload Jerami Grant, who's been in trade talks basically since the ink dried on the insanely generous five-year, $160 million contract he signed with the team ahead of the 2023-24 season.

Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report recently pitched deals for all 30 NBA teams with the league's February 6 trade deadline now less than a week away.

Buckley outlines a potential trade where Milwaukee could add a potential lottery pick and a former three-time All-Star swingman in an exchange for the 30-year-old veteran.

Portland Trail Blazers receive: Khris Middleton and a 2031 first-round pick (top-five protected)

Milwaukee Bucks receive: Jerami Grant

This exchange wouldn't really be about adding a former NBA champion and elite wing to Portland's roster. It would be about that draft pick. Milwaukee would obviously haggle about pick protections in such a deal, but the team is motivated to improve this year with All-Stars Damian Lillard (who's 34 and has already lost a step athletically) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (who's 30 and looks just as dominant as ever) aging.

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Grant would be a present-day upgrade over Middleton, who even before he underwent a pair of offseason ankle injuries appeared to have regressed significantly.

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The 26-19 Bucks don't quite look like they can handle the 39-9 Cleveland Cavaliers or 33-15 Boston Celtics this season. The 32-16 New York Knicks, currently the East's No. 3 seed right above Milwaukee, seem more attainable, as head coach Tom Thibodeau is playing all of his starters heavy minutes already. Last season, almost every key New York player got hurt during the Knicks' run to Game 7 of their semifinal series with the Indiana Pacers.

Regardless, the fourth-seeded Bucks need to improve this year if they want to have a realistic chance at emerging out of the East. The question becomes whether they'd be amenable to such light protections on a 2031 first round pick, at which point Antetokounmpo will be 36.

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