3 Trade Options Blazers Should Explore After Active Offseason

The Portland Trail Blazers have enjoyed a busy 2025 offseason.

Granted, their marquee move was their decision to re-sign former All-Star point guard Damian Lillard to a three-year, $41.6 million free agent contract, after he was waived by the Milwaukee Bucks. The 6-foot-2 Weber State product's return is more of a long-term play, as he'll likely miss most or all of the 2025-26 season while he recovers from an Achilles tendon tear.

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But Portland also traded Anfernee Simons' expiring contract for the long-term money of 35-year-old former All-Star Jrue Holiday, bought out starting center Deandre Ayton, and moved out of the lottery to draft rookie center Yang Hansen.

The team also extended head coach Chauncey Billups and general manager Joe Cronin. Still, the team's current roster is very much a work-in-progress. Cronin seems to be both bringing in veteran leadership and empowering select young players. There's more he could do to build out this mismatched roster, potentially in both current and future directions.

Here are three players Cronin should look to trade this year.

1. Jerami Grant

This might be wishful thinking, as the 6-foot-7 veteran power forward is still on a bloated deal. He's often hurt, and last season was fully supplanted by emerging Trail Blazers forwards Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija. When he does play this season, meritocratically he has lost his starting privileges.

Still, he's a decent two-way forward who can convincingly play at either small or power forward. A semi-desperate title hopeful could potentially be convinced to take a swing on the 31-year-old. Cronin could either seek draft compensation or more affordable depth (particularly along the wing) in a Grant deal.

2. Scoot Henderson

Henderson is still on his rookie-scale salary, yes, but as a lottery pick, his contract is actually pretty robust. He's owed $10.7 million this season, pretty close to this summer's non-taxpayer mid-level exception starting salary. The 21-year-old former No. 3 draft pick is also owed $13.6 million next year, the last season of his deal.

The fact that Cronin essentially brought in two 35-year-old point guards this summer isn't exactly a vote of confidence in Henderson's upside.

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The ceiling of expectations have likely been modified internally from perpetual All-Star appearances to just a starting-caliber starter, and there's absolutley no guarantee he even reaches that level. Henderson is a streaky shooter and questionable late-game decision maker, but you can't teach his downhill ferocity.

If Cronin really wants to go all-in on a roster around Camara and Avdija, maybe he could flip Henderson for some quality veteran help. Although even then, there's likely little urgency to move off Henderson until Lillard comes back.

3. Robert Williams III

If Portland had trouble trading Ayton to the point where it ultimately opted for a buyout, it might be hard-pressed to ditch the always-hurt Williams' expiring deal, even if the one-time All-Defensive Teamer is making a far more reasonable $13.3 million. Clubs with finite center depth that fancy themselves pseudo-contenders (here's looking at you, Lakers) may be willing to ditch a squeezed-out vet (Jarred Vanderbilt or Gabe Vincent make sense) to take a flier on Williams.

For the Trail Blazers, they should at least try to extract some kind of draft equity back if they can, but it's unclear how robust the market for Williams will really be at this juncture.

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