Lakers Named Worst Landing Spot for $160 Million Star

Getty Rui Hachimura #28 of the Los Angeles Lakers laughs on the bench with Christian Wood #35 as LeBron James #23 and Anthony Davis #3 talk.

The Los Angeles Lakers could be the worst landing spot for Portland Trail Blazers star forward Jerami Grant, according to Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey.

“Grant and the Los Angeles Lakers have been linked to each other for much of this offseason, but spending their limited trade assets there doesn’t make much sense,” Bailey wrote on September 16. “Rui Hachimura is four years younger, makes about half as much money and was arguably more productive last season.”

Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report wrote on July 4 that the Blazers’ asking price for Grant is the Lakers’ 2029 and 2031 first-round draft picks.

LA Daily’s Anthony Irwin reported on July 3 that the Lakers have been unwilling to meet that price.

But if the Trail Blazers lower their asking price to a package built around one of the Lakers first-round picks and Hachimura, then a deal could be made, according to Highkin.

Jerami Grant as Potential Lakers’ Third Star

The 30-year-old Grant is entering the second season of a five-year deal worth $160 million with a $36.4 million player option for the 2027-28 season.

A 36.4% career 3-point shooter and a reliable 20-point scorer over the last seasons with the Trail Blazers, the 6-foot-7 Grant is viewed as the ideal complementary player for the Lakers, who can create offense and play defense.

Grant’s 7-foot-3 wingspan and his athleticism would be a boon to JJ Redick’s effort to surround LeBron James and Anthony Davis with two-way players, who can also knock down outside shots.

But Grant left the Denver Nuggets after the 2019-20 season because he wanted to be more than just a complementary player. So he became a focal point in bad teams in Detroit and the post-Damian Lillard era in Portland.

If the Lakers trade for him, the question that is begging for an answer is whether he is willing to become a third wheel again.

Jerami Grant ‘Was a Mistake’ For Blazers: NBA Exec

A Western Conference executive told Heavy’s Sean Deveney in July that the Blazers are “stubborn.”

That is part of the reason the veteran forward remains with the rebuilding Blazers.

“Part of the job is to be stubborn, though,” the league executive told Deveney. “But part of the job is also seeing your mistakes and getting out of them. Grant was a mistake. Trading him now just to get out of that salary is the right thing to do, take whatever picks or young guys you can get.”

The Blazers extended Grant to his current lucrative contract right before Lillard demanded a trade out of Portland last year.

“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 league executive said. “But he is a third option. He has had some big numbers in 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 and $32 (million) 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 Heat, any of these teams to take him, they’ve got to recognize that.”