While the majority of teams in the NBA are in the playoff picture in some capacity, one team that isn't is the Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers are 14-33 on the season with a -8.4 point differential per game and are nine games back from the tenth seed, the final spot for a play-in birth. The Blazers have the quintessential look of a seller at the upcoming NBA trade deadline in a couple of weeks.
The Blazers may not be very good and are at the beginning of a full-fledged rebuild, but there are absolutely pieces on this team that contenders would want. The name of the game for the Blazers at this moment in time is to continue to add young talent and draft picks.
They already have a solid base of young players, including Anfernee Simons, Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, and Jabari Walker, among others. They also have three extra first-round picks at their disposal thanks to the Damian Lillard and subsequent Jrue Holiday trades. But this trade deadline offers them a chance to add more to that treasure chest. The best-case scenario for the Blazers would see them do exactly that. This is how they would do so, and what it means for Malcolm Brogdon and Jerami Grant.
They get a first-round pick for Malcolm Brogdon
The Boston Celtics shipped out a first-round pick to the Indiana Pacers when they traded for Malcolm Brogdon back in the summer of 2022. Indiana eventually used that pick on Belmont shooting guard Ben Sheppard. In the summer of 2023, the Los Angeles Clippers nearly traded the 30th overall pick to the Wizards as part of a three-team trade that fell through after the Clippers failed Brogdon's physical.
The Blazers should be able to get that kind of value for Brogdon from a contender who needs help in their backcourt. He has been as steady as ever, even on a bad Blazers team. Brogdon's averages on a per-game and per-36-minute basis have been about the same as they've been throughout his career. His 52.7% effective field goal percentage is solid as well and close to his career mark in that statistic (53.3%).
The Blazers don't have to trade Brogdon. He still has another year left on his two-year $45 million contract.
But the league has shown us before that his value is about the same as a late first-round pick, and a late first-round pick has more value to the rebuilding Blazers than a 31-year-old Malcolm Brogdon. Getting an additional first-round pick for him as part of the haul acquired for Damian Lillard would be great business for Portland.
Someone sends a godfather offer for Jerami Grant
Whether or not the Blazers re-signed Jerami Grant with Lillard in mind or not, they gave him a hefty extension regardless. He has lived up to it so far. He's averaging 21.3 points per game this season on a solid 52.7% effective field goal percentage and playing good defense on the other end too. He's just a flat-out good player.
Though Grant is about to turn 30, he still has plenty of value for the Blazers. Every rebuilding team needs a veteran to help steer the ship forward. They don't have a lot of proven wings, which isn't the case at guard where they have Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, and the rookie Scoot Henderson.
It would probably require multiple first-round picks for the Blazers to part with Grant. It doesn't seem as if a contender can meet that asking price. It would be a surprise if Portland traded him. But, in a best-case scenario, if a team offered them multiple firsts and a promising young player, it would be pretty difficult for the Blazers to say no.
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