NBA: 1 Offseason move every team is already beginning to regret
By Matt Sidney
Portland Trail Blazers: Re-signing Jerami Grant to a 5-year, $160M contract extension
Maybe the Portland Trail Blazers actually thought that by selecting Scoot Henderson with the third overall pick and re-signing Jerami Grant to a 5-year, $160M contract Damian Lillard would want to run it back. Nope.
The Blazers instead traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks and now the odd man out in Portland is Grant. For what Grant offers, this contract might not seem outrageous, but I'm in the camp that his value has always been inflated. At best, he's a 20-point-per-game scorer who gets you a couple of rebounds, plays good defense, and doesn't move the basketball efficiently.
He will also be 35 years old at the end of the contract. Does that sound like a player you'd want to throw over $30M a season for five years?! I don't think so, and neither should Portland.
Sacramento Kings: Not upgrading to Jerami Grant
"Wait a minute. Matt, in your last team breakdown with the Trail Blazers you were just clamoring about how the Trailblazers should not have given Grant the contract extension. What gives?" If this thought ran through your head, you're not wrong. I do believe Grant is the wrong fit for a rebuilding Blazers team that is not looking to win many games. I also believe that the Kings would be more competitive if they made a move for him in the offseason.
This essentially means that they'd upgrade Harrison Barnes with Jerami Grant and seeing as though the Kings could always get better on the defensive side of the court, having a long, rangy defender on the perimeter is exactly what they wanted for the holidays, but instead they had to settle for the lesser model, and looking back, maybe they should have gone with the upgrade instead. For this, they're regretting not making a move for Grant.