Blazers' Jerami Grant Could Join Deandre Ayton in Being Ruled Out vs Celtics

The Portland Trail Blazers could be without two starters when they square off against the reigning champion Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Wednesday.

Per the Trail Blazers' PR team, Portland starting center Deandre Ayton continues to recuperate from his left calf strain, while starting power forward Jerami Grant has been listed as questionable to suit up while he deals with right knee tendinitis.

Former All-Defensive Teamers Matisse Thybulle (right ankle sprain) and Robert Williams III (left knee sprain) have already been ruled out. Thybulle has yet to even play a game this season thanks to multiple injuries. After this Boston clash, he'll have just 19 games left to do so.

INJURY REPORT 3/5 @ BOS:

OUT
Deandre Ayton (L Calf Strain)
Matisse Thybulle (R Ankle Sprain)
Robert Williams III (L Knee Sprain)

QUESTIONABLE
Jerami Grant (R Knee Tendinitis)
— Trail Blazers PR (@TrailBlazersPR) March 4, 2025

Grant is something of a polarizing figure. He was once a solid 3-and-D role player for the Denver Nuggets, then took a leap as a scorer on some miserable Detroit Pistons clubs, and has been aging a bit while cashing checks for the Blazers recently. He's earning $29.7 million this year, and had been seen as a potential trade chip as a useful two-way vet.

After Portland failed to move him at this year's deadline, some fear that the team missed its window to extract maximal value for Grant.

While conceding that Grant's worsening production and hefty long-term salary could make him tough to move, Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report did provide fans with a glimmer of hope that the 6-foot-7 vet could still be offloaded for value in the offseason. After 2024-25, Grant will be owed $102.6 million across the next three years (although he has a player option for 2027-28).

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"The one thing I’ll say about this summer, though, is that with the NBA’s new TV deal kicking in, the salary cap and luxury tax are both expected to increase by 10 percent over what it is this season," Highkin writes. "So that’s going to take all but the highest-spending teams out of the tax, making it easier to move big salaries like Grant’s—and making his salary a smaller percentage of the cap."

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At 28-34 on the year, the No. 12-seeded Trail Blazers are just 0.5 games behind the 28-33 Phoenix Suns. Despite featuring two likely future Hall of Famers in shooting guard Devin Booker and power forward Kevin Durant (both of whom have been mostly healthy this year), Phoenix has been absolutely miserable on the floor together this year.

everything's fine in phoenixpic.twitter.com/svBcziG21f
— Underdog NBA (@Underdog__NBA) March 5, 2025

Despite fielding a far less starry roster (and struggling for consistency with Ayton sidelined for several weeks already), the young Trail Blazers' chemistry has been one of their biggest strengths this year.

With Kyrie Irving suffering a season-ending ACL tear and Anthony Davis now potentially joining him, the No. 10-seeded Dallas Mavericks (32-30) seem doomed to slip out of the play-in tournament bracket in the Western Conference. The 26-34 San Antonio Spurs are fading sans Victor Wembanyama.

Essentially, it's going to come down to Portland and Phoenix for the West's No. 10 seed. Although the Trail Blazers will likely struggle to vanquish the 43-18 Celtics on the road, their upside this year may give them the edge at a surprise postseason return.

More Portland Trail Blazers:

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