7. Portland Trail Blazers signing Jerami Grant to huge deal
When it comes to the Portland Trail Blazers, we don’t have to pretend anymore. This was a team that was clearly trying to rebuild behind the scenes while telling Damian Lillard they weren’t. With whispers and smoke surrounding the possibility that Lillard was going to demand a trade away from the team, the Blazers still thought it was important to sign Jerami Grant to a five-year, $160 million deal.
This has nothing to do about whether Grant is worth it. He probably is where the NBA is heading. Grant is coming off a productive season in which he averaged 21 points and five rebounds per game on 48 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent shooting from 3-point range. He’s worth the deal. But for where the Blazers are headed as a franchise, re-signing Grant makes no sense.
I suppose if the Blazers do end up trading Lillard, they could use Grant as a moveable asset. But even then, there’s no guarantee they’ll get equal value for that investment. The Blazers have mismanaged this offseason; that’s almost impossible to argue against at this point.