Lakers Finally Acquire Blazers’ Jerami Grant In Blockbuster Trade Proposal

The Los Angeles Lakers came into the offseason hoping to make a big move of some sort.

Despite their best efforts, the three players they were most interested in – Klay Thompson, Dejounte Murray and DeMar DeRozan – all ended up elsewhere.

Likewise it seems probably that their secret plan to steal Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks won’t succeed either.

Slowly, the summer seems to be slipping away from L.A. Their biggest mistake of the offseason has been scrutinized endlessly as this point.

This week Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report offered a trade proposal that would immediately salvage the Lakers’ disastrous offseason.

In the proposed deal, L.A. would get Grant and Duop Reath. For their troubles, Portland would walk away with D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jalen Hood-Schifino, a 2029 first-round pick and a 2025 second-rounder courtesy of the Los Angeles Clippers.

On paper, this feels like a win-win for all sides.

The Blazers get Russell’s expiring $18.7 million contract and a really solid role player in Vanderbilt. Hood-Schifino is a giant question mark, but he also comes cheap and would get an opportunity to prove himself in Portland. The draft capital speaks for itself.

The Lakers, meanwhile, get a legitimately talented third option to pair with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. If Austin Reaves develops into the sort of player everyone was hoping he would become, then Grant would make an even better fourth option.

In any case – L.A. needs to do something. The roster, as presently constructed, will not even come close to contending for a title.

Will the Lakers make this much-needed trade with the Blazers before the start of the 2024-25 NBA season? Time will tell.

Carlos Garcia

A longtime Sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB Games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.