Jerami Grant’s latest move has put his NBA future back in focus, and the next few months could tell the story of where the Syracuse alum lands for the long haul.
Grant is heading into his 13th season, and for now that season belongs to Memphis after a blockbuster-ish trade with the Portland Trail Blazers. Portland sent Grant and Kris Murray to the Grizzlies in exchange for former two-time All-Star Ja Morant.
If nothing changes before the offseason wraps up, Memphis will be Grant’s fifth NBA stop, following earlier runs with the Philadelphia 76ers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons and Trail Blazers. He was drafted No. 39 overall in the 2014 NBA Draft by Philadelphia.
Even with all that movement, Grant still checks a box teams always want. He’s the kind of forward who can space the floor and guard multiple spots, and that profile still carries real weight around the league. He’s not an elite rebounder - his career mark sits at 3.9 RPG - and he’s not the kind of defender who erases everyone in sight, but he fits cleanly into a system and doesn’t give opponents an easy target.
The production is still there, too. Last season, Grant averaged 18.6 PPG in just under 30 minutes per game, and he continued to punish defenses from deep, hitting 39% of his 6.1 three-point attempts per game.
That kind of shooting has been a steady part of his game for years. Over his last four seasons in Portland, a stretch that covered 221 games and 201 starts, he hit 39% of his 5.8 attempts per game.
That’s why he remains such a useful player: a dependable scorer in the 15- to 20-point range, built like a wing, and versatile enough to slide into different defensive schemes. He’ll be playing his age-32 season in 2026-27, but the value is still obvious.
The question is what Memphis wants to do with him.
On one side, Grant gives the Grizzlies a veteran presence and a proven skill set as the franchise moves into a new phase after the Morant Era. Memphis now has a young core that includes Cameron Boozer, Cedric Coward, Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells, and Grant could help stabilize that group.
But the roster math complicates everything. Memphis is way above the 15-player limit after a busy offseason, the addition of new draft picks and the young players already on the roster from last season. According to Spotrac, Grant can be moved starting on August 29, so his stay in Memphis may not last long.
His contract makes any deal even trickier. Grant is still owed at least two more seasons on the five-year, $160 million contract he signed with Portland.
His 2026-27 salary is guaranteed at just over $34 million, and he has a player option worth just over $36 million for 2027-28. Those numbers are hefty in any market, and they become even more difficult to manage in the era of the second apron and the league’s tighter financial rules.
His 2026-27 salary accounts for 20.7% of the cap, while the player option year would be 20.9%.
Teams do still pay that kind of money for the right player. The issue is fitting it into a trade, especially in-season, when matching salary and keeping enough flexibility can be a headache.
So the most likely paths are pretty clear: Grant gets moved again, or he opens the season in Memphis and becomes a trade-deadline or next-offseason candidate.
There’s also a scenario where he stays and works toward a longer-term setup. If that happens, he could decline the player option and sign a new deal, much like Andrew Wiggins did with the Miami Heat.
Wiggins took his $30.2 million player option for this season and then added two years and $34 million more. A similar kind of arrangement could be in play for Grant, whether that ends up happening in Memphis or somewhere else.
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