Report: Blazers Interested In Jerami Grant

With a chunk of the NBA’s players becoming eligible for trades this week, the rumor mill is churning more than ever before.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Portland Trail Blazers are interested in Detroit Pistons star Jerami Grant.

Grant, who was born in Portland, is in the second year of a three-year, $60 million contract. His father Harvey played for the Blazers in the mid-1990s and was born during his tenure in the Rose City.

Grant sprained his UCL in his thumb and will sit for at least six weeks, but he is still trade-eligible and should be healthy right around the NBA Trade Deadline on February 10. The injury is the same one that Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat suffered earlier this month. Adebayo elected to have surgery and will miss four-to-six weeks.

Once Grant is healthy, he would be a massive boost to the Blazers’ defense, which ranks in the bottom five of the league. He’s averaging a career-best 1.1 steals per game and 1.1 blocks per contest. On the offensive end, Grant has seen an elevation in his game during his Pistons tenure. Last year, he averaged a career-high 22.3 points per game and this year, he’s at 20.1 points per contest.

If the Pistons make Grant available, he will be one of the biggest names on the market, so the Blazers will have to pull out all the stops to bring him to Portland.