Recent words from ESPN’s Zach Lowe may suggest that he thinks it’s only a matter of time until Jerami Grant gets traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Did Zach Lowe just confirm Jerami Grant to the Lakers?? pic.twitter.com/h7sgwd3oG0
— 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞 (@SixthManJake) July 27, 2024
“Should we start printing the Jerami Grant-Lakers jerseys, by the way?” Lowe posed. “Should we just do it now? I think we — I might order one.”
Grant has been linked to the Lakers in trade rumors for a good while now. However, one executive from a team in the Western Conference implied earlier in the offseason that Los Angeles may not be willing to give up a ton to acquire the 30-year-old forward.
“Jerami Grant can play, he is a shooter, he is a good, active defender when he is engaged, he is going to do a lot of things that help your team,” the executive told Heavy Sports. “But he is a third option. He has some big numbers the last few years, but he has done it on terrible teams. No one is going to make a big trade for a guy who gives you 20 (points) on a bad team and 13 (points) on a good one.
“Not with his contract. He is going to make $30 (million) next year $32 the year after that. Then he has two more years. You can’t pay your third option $34, 35 million. If Portland wants the Lakers, the [Miami] Heat, any of these teams to take him, they’ve got to recognize that.”
Some recent comments from Portland Trail Blazers reporter Danny Marang also offered a possible look behind the curtain.
“As I understand it, Klutch was hoping to help facilitate a deal there, and they got the Lakers to say, yeah, they’d be willing to trade two ones for Jerami, and then when it came time to do it, [Rob] Pelinka balked,” said Marang.
While the Trail Blazers didn’t accomplish much of note during the 2023-24 campaign — Portland finished the regular season with the worst record of any team in the Western Conference at 21-61 — Grant was a bright spot as one of the team’s best offensive players.
After all, he ranked second on the squad in points per game (21.0) behind only Anfernee Simons while also finishing with the second-best 3-point percentage on the roster (40.2).
Grant was just one of 12 players in the entire NBA to average 20-plus points per game and shoot 40-plus percent from deep last season. Some of the very best scorers the league has ever seen — such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant — ended up qualifying for that short list.
On top of being a solid scorer, Grant can also make an impact on the defensive end of the floor thanks to his versatility. Standing at 6-foot-7 and weighing in at 210 pounds, he possesses the necessary tools to hold his own against several different positions.
Grant’s knack for scoring the ball would make him a fascinating fit playing alongside Lakers stars James and Anthony Davis. His ability to space the floor would seemingly open up driving lanes for the two and make their lives easier on the offensive side of the ball.
A handful of Lakers fans are surely hoping that Lowe wasn’t just being facetious when he implied it may be time to print up some Grant-Lakers jerseys.
