The Portland Trail Blazers are in a poor spot. With a squad that routinely made the postseason last couple of years, they will be fighting hard to reach it this season.

Right now, the Blazers are 10th in the West, a full five games out of the secure playoff spot and just one game ahead of the Spurs for the last play-in spot.

It is clear that the team really needs a change, and the Detroit Pistons might have just the player on their roster. Of course, it is Jerami Grant, who is having another great year. It is being somewhat wasted, as the Pistons are 9-30 and are not in contention for the playoffs. Thus, Grant and the Blazers seem like a natural connection. Here is the perfect trade Blazers must offer the Pistons for Jerami Grant.

Perfect Blazers trade offer for Pistons' Jerami Grant 

Blazers get Jerami Grant; Pistons get Jusuf Nurkic, Anfernee Simons 

This is a great trade for both teams. On the surface, it might not seem that way, as the Pistons would probably prefer more picks or a better youngster. However, with this move, the Pistons clear out cap space and get a stable center in Nurkic, a position they need to improve, and Simons, who is playing great in the last couple of games.

For the Blazers, they clear out Nurkic, who they would most likely lose for free in the summer, and they get Jerami Grant, who could give their offense even more firepower.

Why The Pistons Do It

Starting with the Pistons, this franchise seems like they have already lost the next couple of seasons. Due to the young squad and not much NBA talent on their roster, the Pistons really want to survive for the next few years and then attack the title with their young core.

They got everything covered in the backcourt, as Cade Cunningham has been great after some early-season jitters. Kylian Hayes is still to hit his apex, but even in this overall poor season, he had some great moments. Saddiq Bay looks like a great player as well, and so does Hamidou Diallo, who had a great stretch a few weeks back. Getting Nurkic from the Blazers would give them an option at the center as well, where they are very thin.

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The Houston Rockets invested heavily into Fred VanVleet during the 2023 offseason. Houston gave the point guard a three-year, $128 million deal in a move that was meant to turn the Rockets from a rebuilding team into a championship contending one. The signing did just that, as the Rockets finished the 2024-25 regular season as the two-seed in a stacked Western Conference. VanVleet was the veteran presence and 3-point shooter that the team desperately needed, and he still might have a role with the Rockets going forward. Houston has a team option on his contract for next year, and they very well may pick it up. The Wichita State product reportedly wants to stay in Houston, but the point guard would be set to make over $44 million next season under his current contract. The Rockets and their guard recently pushed back the deadline on Houston's decision with VanVleet, and although reports suggest that they are interested in writing up a new, long-term deal, it isn't necessarily a guarantee that VanVleet will be playing for Houston next year. The Rockets blew him away with an offer he couldn't refuse back in 2023, and another team could so the same when/if he hits the open market this offseason. If VanVleet does become an unrestricted free agent, which teams outside of Houston would make the most sense for him to sign with? 1. Orlando Magic Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner recently signed big deals with the Orlando Magic, and Paolo Banchero will be getting a mega contract extension here soon. Because of that, the Magic no longer have money to blow like they have had in recent years. That will make a deal for another big ticket free agent hard to pull off, especially considering the team signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope last year. If Orlando can make the money work, though, then Fred VanVleet would be a great fit with the Magic. The Magic finished dead last in 3-point shooting this season, and VanVleet has made at least 2.5 deep balls per game in every season since 2018-19. VanVleet can hit shots form behind the arc off of the bounce or in catch-and-shoot situations. The Rockets were heavily reliant on his shooting expertise, so the guard would have plenty of familiarity getting up deep shots with high volume if he signed with the Magic. While undersized, VanVleet is a pesky defender, so he'd fit right in with a Magic team that has one of the best defensive units in the league. VanVleet could play alongside Suggs and give opposing teams fits. Ultimately, though, the Magic just need more shooting to get to the next level, and VanVleet is arguably the best shooter who could be available on the open market this offseason. 2. Brooklyn Nets A more realistic option for a VanVleet destination would be the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets are set up to have the most cap space this offseason, and they have a major need at point guard. With D'Angelo Russell and De'Anthony Melton hitting free agency this offseason, the Nets don't have a true point guard under contract for next season. Brooklyn needs to spend big this offseason, and they'd be smart to offer VanVleet a contract big enough that he'd have no choice but to leave Houston. VanVleet averaged 14.1 points per game last season, which was his lowest mark since 2018-19. He is trending the wrong way, but he still has enough left in the tank to give the Nets a few good seasons. 3. Portland Trail Blazers In the same way that the Rockets were looking to take the next step in 2023, the Portland Trail Blazers could use VanVleet's presence to get over the hump. The Trail Blazers have plenty of big man depth, as centers Deandre Ayton, Donovan Clingan, Robert Williams, and Duop Death are all under contract next season. Portland also has a lot of wing depth. Deni Advija started to look like a star late this past season, Toumani Camara is an elite defender, Shaedon Sharpe is a freakish athlete, and Jerami Grant is a proven scorer. The team is thinner in the backcourt, though. Anfernee Simons is a solid scorer, but Scoot Henderson has looked like a fringe draft bust since being drafted third overall. Portland shouldn't give up on Henderson completely, but there wouldn't be any harm in signing another guard. Like the Magic, the Blazers were one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the NBA. VanVleet would improve that weakness, and in a stacked Western Conference, Portland needs all of the help they can get if they are to compete for a playoff spot.
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Nurkic is not a prospect, as this is his eighth season in the league. However, any team needs veterans and Nurkic can play that role perfectly. He is also Bosnian, just as one more Pistons rookie, Luka Garza. Both play in the frontcourt and Garza's progression can be even faster with Nurkic there.

This is especially true due to the fact that Nurk is a willing and fairly good passer, for his position. If he could instill some of that in Garza, the former Iowa center could be even better for the Pistons. If all of that fails, Nurkic is an expiring contract, so the Pistons would be able to make a decision after the season ends.

In the case of Simons, he could be yet another piece in a potentially great Pistons backcourt. The Blazers guard is on fire for the last four games, averaging 29.0 points, on 52.8% shooting from the field and 47.1% shooting from behind the three-point line. These exceptional numbers do not appear to be sustainable, but even half of that would make this deal worth it for the Pistons. He will be given the space and if it fails, as Nurkic, he is also an expiring contract and the Pistons can choose not to keep him.

Why The Blazers Do It

For the Blazers, the move is very simple – get some value out of the Simons' amazing stretch and Nurkic's expiring contract. For these two, they get Jerami Grant, who has single-handedly kept the Pistons in some games they had no business being in. Grant is averaging 20.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game.

He gets most of his points from dribble-drive penetrations and mid-range jumpers. This opens up possibilities for the shooters the Blazers have, as Grant will garner attention from the defense, and he can then kick it out to Damian Lillard or C.J. McCollum waiting on the wings.

With Norman Powell also having a good season, the most likely outcome would be that Grant is moved to the power forward position, where he played 92% of his minutes this season and 68% of his minutes in his career. The Blazers would then have an incredibly potent offensive formation, with four players averaging 18+ points per game.

It would probably change, as they would be sharing the court, but it is still great potential. The defense might be an issue, especially with Nurkic leaving, but the Blazers need some kind of a shock to their roster. Jerami Grant would definitely be ideal for that, for whatever price is available.