Blazers acquire Jerami Grant for MIL 25 1st.

[Wizenheimer]

Since Portland will be hard capped, it will be difficult to make a trade with additional salary coming back. That eliminates ~25 teams from a potential Bledsoe trade.... which I'm guessing the guy on the radio was talking about.

The other team will have to be able to take all $19M of Bledsoe's contract (regardless of how much of that is guaranteed) & Portland would not be allowed to bring back more than ~$7M in salary (based on what we are projecting).

That is why including Bledsoe (+cash) in the Detroit trade is so advantageous. Grant will be traded here regardless (so there is no extra salary incoming), but we also get to dump Bledsoe's $3.9M off our books.

yes, the Pistons now have a TPE = to Grant's current salary. That TPE would be sufficient to absorb Bledsoe, then waive him. The problem is, that 21M TPE the Pistons have from the Grant trade is pretty valuable...a 21M TPE certainly was valuable to Portland

now, I can't figure exactly how much cap-space the Pistons still have....I think it's in the 12-15M range; but that's after subtracting Grant's salary. Meaning that TPE is valuable now and will have increasing value as the trade deadline approaches. Detroit isn't likely to give that up for nothing. Maybe an agreement on Bledsoe was part of the original trade, but if so, I'd expect Portland would be shipping more draft-assets/cash Detroit's way

Blazers need to off-load some salary since the kinda-dumb Payton signing left them hard-capped and too close to the line

Teams cant have TPE and cap space. To get cap space, you have to waive all exceptions (TPE, MLE, etc).

Therefore it would not adversely impact Detroit's salary cap (outside of the $3.9m hit).

that's only true after the trade is final, and it hasn't been formally completed yet. Detroit could use any cap-space they have now, counting Grant's salary. Then still have the TPE after the trade is complete

[whitehops]

i know it's only been a few games but how has jerami grant been for your team?

[-HB-]

i know it's only been a few games but how has jerami grant been for your team?

Just won us the Laker game. Been solid on defense.

[Blazinaway]

i know it's only been a few games but how has jerami grant been for your team?

easily Portland's best PF since LMA, his style fits in very well

[zzaj]

i know it's only been a few games but how has jerami grant been for your team?

Really no complaints here...it's been nice having an active offensive threat at that position--something the Blazers haven't had in a long while.

[BNM]

i know it's only been a few games but how has jerami grant been for your team?

Pretty much as expected (which is a good thing). He was miscast as a No. 1 option in DET and has returned to being the very efficient 3rd option, 3 and D player he was in OKC and DEN.

The one area where his offense has improved since his OKC/DEN days is he gets to the line more now. He's not just a spot up shooter like he was earlier in his career. He takes the ball to the basket, draws fouls and gets to the FT line at a high rate - which helps his scoring efficiency. That's a big part of why he's averaging a very efficient 15.7 ppg on just 9.7 FGA/G.

His 3FG% will come down to earth (currently .750) and his 2FG will improve (currently .333), but I'm hopeful his overall efficiency will remain similar to what it's been so far.

He is a weak rebounder for his size and position, but his defense is a plus. Thankfully, he's playing most of his minutes with Nurk and Josh Hart, who help make up for Grant's poor rebounding.

So yeah, pretty much as expected. Fitting in well and doing what he does best, without trying to do too much.

[HoopsFanAZ]

BNM (see above) gives earned praise to Grant without going too far. Well said. I can't disagree with much at all.
I will say that he looks like a steal for the Blazers. The Pistons are on a different timeline, and IMHO, they're building well. Good for both teams ... BUT especially the Blazers. His extension next year will cost but not Middleton Money.

Well done Grant, Dame, and Cronin.