On the other hand.....by signing Grant they can add a future asset (1st round pick). His added salary has not affected their ability to obtain other players. (nor hindered the tank job) Not yet anyways. So the smart move was to fulfill the promise they made to Grant and his agent and re-sign him...... and trade him for a pick.
We'll see what we can get for him. The Blazers didn't give up a lot to get him (a Bucks first rounder three years down the road and two second rounders, essentially) and that was when he was two years younger and a heck of a lot cheaper. He also has missed at least 28 games in three of the last four years now, with one where he "only" missed 19... at some point, teams might think he's injury-prone. I would be pleasantly shocked if we get a first rounder for him. Additionally, by taking on his salary it has prevented us from absorbing bad contracts from other teams and getting value that way. I'm not sure if that would have been more value than we'll get for Grant down the road. I guess we'll wait and see.
I don't think most GMs aren't that stupid. They know when a player is being held out for "end of season tank purposes". The only surgery I saw in recent memory is to repair ligaments in his thumb. I really don't think "injury prone" will be factor in their minds.
He hasn't just been held out at the end of seasons. He had multiple mid-season stretches where he missed three or more games in 2021, missed a big chunk of the middle of his last year with Detroit, and missed multiple games in a row a few times the last two years, too. Whether it's stupid or not, he has not played in more than 63 regular season games since 2018-19. Some players have had whole careers in that amount of time.
Crazy thought and totally straying away from a “rebuild,” what if we were to make a trade: Scoot + Ant + #7 + future #1 unprotected tbd (Give Chicago the #14 and be done with old business) to Cleveland for Donovan Mitchell + #20 we than package #20, 34 and 40 to move up and grab Edey Ayton / Edey / Reath Grant Sharpe Mitchell Brogdan Are we a playoff team?
If we are we're headed for the exit in the first round every season. That team is never ever contending.
