Milwaukee Bucks trading for Jerami Grant could prove disastrous

The Milwaukee Bucks are reportedly interested in a variety of useful players on bloated contracts as the team looks to prove to Giannis Antetokounmpo they’re still committed to winning with him.

The Portland Trail Blazers’ Jerami Grant has been highlighted as one name the Bucks’ front office is targeting. Reports from Jake Fischer on The Stein Line as well as ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel have named Grant as a player the Bucks have real interest in acquiring to help turn their season around.

The Bucks are pushing to be big buyers before the trade deadline, and noise surrounding Jerami Grant to Milwaukee has grown, sources told @ClutchPoints.

Latest on Bucks and their potential pursuit of Grant, which could also include Robert Williams III⬇️ https://t.co/JEsAprAaXP
— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) December 23, 2025

One look at Grant’s basic stats and it’s easy to see some appeal for Milwaukee. The veteran forward is averaging an even 20.0 points per game and shooting 38.9% from three this season, offering a scoring punch that might help a Bucks team that has stumbled to 22nd in offensive rating.

A deeper look into what Grant provides, and what he costs, proves that he isn’t the best target for the Bucks to chase. For all of the team’s issues this season, a shooter actually isn’t something the Bucks are desperate to add. Milwaukee remains third in three-point percentage this season, and has a roster stuffed with capable snipers from beyond the arc.

Defense and rebounding, on the other hand, have hurt the Bucks all season long. Milwaukee is 30th in rebounds per game, 29th in rebounding percentage (the percentage of available rebounds the Bucks grab), and 22nd in defensive rating. Grant is not poised to help with those issues.

Despite lining up at power forward at this point in his career, Grant only grabs 4.0 rebounds per game, which is actually up from the 3.5 boards he collected per game in each of the previous two seasons. Portland grabs more rebounds when Grant is off the floor, and defends dramatically better when he sits too.

Defense would be an issue

The Blazers have a 108.4 defensive rating with Grant off court vs 120.0 when he’s on. Both of those numbers are extremes: 108.4 (without Grant) would place Portland second in the NBA this season and represents the best the Blazers defense performs with any player not on the floor, while 120.0 (with Grant on court) would rank 29th in the NBA and is the worst defensive rating for the Blazers to post in any single player’s minutes.

Now, if the Bucks could just drop Grant magically onto their roster he may still help them despite those weaknesses, but that’s not how NBA transactions work. Teams usually want something for their players, and the Bucks appear to be the more desperate party in basically any trade call they’d make given all the buzz around Giannis.

Even putting aside the asset cost, simply matching salaries is costly for Milwaukee. Grant makes $32 million this season and has more than $70 million remaining on his contract afterwards. Unless Giannis or Myles Turner is going out in the deal, Milwaukee would need to combine the salaries of Kyle Kuzma and Bobby Portis to legally trade for Grant under the NBA’s trade rules.

There’s a case to be made that even with no picks or other players involved that the Bucks are losing that trade already. Kuzma, to his credit, has been a steadying presence for Milwaukee who has bought in on defense, rebounding, and pressuring the rim vs settling for mid-range jumpers this season. Milwaukee has been better in both net and defensive rating in Kuzma’s minutes this season, and he’s grabbing nearly one more rebound per game than Grant despite playing roughly four minutes per game fewer.

Portis hasn’t had the same staunch defensive impact, but does provide plenty of spacing as a big man given his 47% mark from three-point territory this season. There’s also a less quantifiable value with Portis, as he’s one of the few Bucks remaining from the team’s championship in 2021.

Given the history between the Bucks and the Blazers, Milwaukee should really know better than to trade for Grant. The reason he’s signed to this albatross of a contract currently is Portland overpaying him to try and take one last gamble on proving the team could compete with Damian Lillard eyeing greener pastures. Lillard, not swayed, demanded and ultimately received a trade anyway and ultimately ended up in Milwaukee.

If the Bucks take the same swing, in the same situation, on literally the same player on the very same contract that has aged so poorly, the Bucks will deserve it if the same outcome follows.