Blazers Sign Jerami Grant to Multi-Year Contract
Jerami Grant and the Portland Trail Blazers have reached a contract agreement that will keep the free agent forward in Portland. The new deal is worth $160 million over five years. Re-signing Grant was an early agenda item on Portland’s free agency to-do list. They could not generate cap space by releasing him. Now they have a starting forward and preserve a future trade asset if needed down the road.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania broke the news:
Free agent forward Jerami Grant and Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul have agreed on a five-year, $160 million deal to return to the Portland Trail Blazers, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
The Blazers acquired Grant from the Detroit Pistons in July, 2022, trading a first-round pick and two second-round picks. The Pistons were willing to part with the multi-faceted forward over fears that he would not re-sign with them when this juncture came.
The 29-year-old averaged 20.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.4 assists while shooting 47.5% from the floor, a career-high 40.1 percent from the three-point arc during his inaugural season in Portland. He started 63 games, averaging 35.7 minutes per.
Now that the Blazers have Grant in the fold, they can concentrate on subsequent free agency tasks. They’ll need to decide whether, and how, to use their mid-level exception (up to $12.4 million) and/or biannual exception (up to $4.5 million), which includes a decision about their salary cap position relative to the luxury tax. The Blazers are also expected to explore the trade market in an effort to continue building around franchise star Damian Lillard. Re-signing Grant was the initial step in that ongoing summer process.
Source: Blazer's Edge
