The Lakers are always at the centre of trade and free agency rumors, especially with LeBron James and Anthony Davis so clearly needing some help.
Until today, there hadn’t been much Lakers news of late, with all eyes on the Olympics. But ESPN’s Zach Lowe offered a promising little nugget for Lakers during the latest episode of his podcast, The Lowe Post.
Lowe strongly suggested that Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant ending up in LA was inevitable.
“Should we start printing the Jerami Grant-Lakers jerseys, by the way?” Lowe asked during a conversation with ESPN’s Tim McMahon. “Should we just do it now? I think… I might order one.”
Did Zach Lowe just confirm Jerami Grant to the Lakers?? pic.twitter.com/h7sgwd3oG0
— 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞 (@SixthManJake) July 27, 2024
At 30 years old and on a five-year year, $160 million contract, Grant would make a lot more sense on a win-now team like the Lakers, as opposed to a young rebuilding team like the Blazers.
The question will be what Portland wants in exchange for Grant, and whether LA can offer enough.
One trade chip the Lakers have is D’Angelo Russell, but according to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, Russell won’t be a valuable piece in this specific case.
“I’ve heard Portland doesn’t want D-Lo because they have a million guards anyway,” Buha said on his podcast “Buha’s Block” on July 26. “So, it just doesn’t really make sense for them.”
Speaking with Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney earlier this month, one Western Conference executive spoke about the complicating factors in getting a Jermai Grant trade done.
“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. But he is a third option. He has some big numbers 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.”
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