Should the Utah Jazz pursue Jerami Grant when he becomes available?

Jerami Grant could be on the Utah Jazz’s list if things go a certain way.

The Utah Jazz may not need Jerami Grant by the time he’s available. The dynamic forward is currently with the Portland Trail Blazers, but rumors are that he’s going to be on the trade block. And as he’s just signed a new contract with them, the team can’t trade him until Jan. 15, 2024. This means Grant will have several months to really put his best foot forward ahead of teams looking to acquire the power forward.

And as we sit right now, on Oct. 2, 2023, the Utah Jazz don’t need Grant. The team has starters Walker Kessler and John Collins, as well as bench guys Kelly Olynyk, and Taylor Hendricks, and the team’s focal point, multi-positional-scoring-threat, Lauri Markkanen. The team is good on guys who would want 20-30+ minutes per game at that position.

Yet, should the Jazz make some trades, namely trading away Olynyk and possibly Hendricks should a big enough name become available, Grant could all of a sudden make perfect sense for the Jazz.

He can score pretty well from all over the court, hitting for over 40% from three last year. He’s a solid passer and in the right system could probably average four or five assists per game. The problems with Grant, however, are pretty bad. Especially for his value.

For a power forward, he can’t rebound. He’s averaged just four rebounds for his career. Jordan Clarkson averaged four rebounds per game last season, and Kris Dunn averaged 4.5 rebounds last season.

Clearly, the Jazz can’t make a move for Grant if they need help rebounding. Also, Grant isn’t good on defense. There are worst bigs defensively, absolutely, but for the price many want Grant to go for, he’s not worth it.

You could justify a first-rounder, and contracts to match (Grant will cost $27 million), but anything more than that is highway robbery for a forward who is just a few notches above Christian Wood in what he brings to the table.

That doesn’t mean the Jazz won’t need him eventually, it just means that, for now, they don’t.