NBA Rumors: According to a recent report, a key cog for the Portland Trail Blazers is not expected to pursue other free agency options.
One of the biggest moves of the offseason for the Portland Trail Blazers entailed acquiring Jerami Grant from the Detroit Pistons. In an attempt to retool the roster around Damian Lillard, after the team had traded away CJ McCollum, acquiring Grant was a big part of the team’s plan to return to relevance in the Western Conference.
However, it was a roll of a dice level move for the Blazers considering that Grant was only under contract for this season and that he would be able to test free agency if he wanted this summer. And with the Blazers continuing to struggle this season as they are currently out of the top 10 in the West standings, there is a natural concern as to whether or not Grant will want to explore other options in free agency.
According to a recent report, though, the expectation is that Grant is likely to re-sign relatively quickly with the Blazers once free agency begins. It doesn’t appear that he is going to entertain other potential options. At least not for now. Of course, that could change at any given moment as we’ve seen time and time before.
The Portland Trail Blazers will have their hands full this offseason
Heading into the offseason, the Blazers will have their hands full on many more than just Grant’s contract situation. That’s absolutely something the Blazers will have to figure out and hopefully, it is a seamless process, but if this season is any indication this is certainly a team that needs to improve the roster around Lillard and Grant.
I’m not sure this is exactly what the Blazers had in mind when they elected to retool the roster around Lillard. If Portland truly wants to build a contender around Lillard, they are going to have to make more additions to this team than simply re-sign Grant. That can’t be the only move that the Blazers make during the offseason.
If that were, it would be a great disservice to Lillard and the team’s vow to retool the team around him.
Nevertheless, the Blazers are one of the teams to keep a close eye on heading into the offseason. And their upcoming situation with Grant is only one of the reasons why this is a big offseason for the Blazers.