Trail Blazers News: Outlining Theoretical Trade to Move Portland into Draft's Top 5
The Portland Trail Blazers have four picks in this month's impending 2024 NBA Draft — two in the first round (in the lottery, to be precise) and two in the second — but it's unclear if team president/general manager Joe Cronin intends to hold on to all of them.
Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press proposes a deal in which the team could actually move up in the draft via a pick swap, acquire a future first round selection, and offload a pricey 30-year-old veteran whose timeline hardly correlates with that of a developing franchise that went all of 21-61 last year.
Sankofa suggests Portland flip their No. 14 pick, a first rounder in 2030, and Jerami Grant's remaining four-year, $132 million contract to break into the top five (the Pistons have the No. 5 selection). In this hypothetical, the Trail Blazers would still hold on to their No. 7 pick, meaning they'd net quite the haul and get off a ton of money in the present.
The Trail Blazers would also be able to move below the NBA's first salary cap apron with this transaction.
Grant previously played with the Pistons from 2020-22, before he was flipped to the Trail Blazers. He remains a useful player, when healthy. Across 54 healthy contests in 2023-24 for Portland, he averaged 21 points on .451/402/.817 shooting splits, 3.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.6 blocks.
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ALEX KIRSCHENBAUM
Clyde, Rick Barry, and Pistol Pete Now these players, could never be beat.