Grade the trade pitch: Lakers add Jerami Grant for reasonable price

The Grade

On the surface, trading Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent for Jerami Grant could be considered a win. Parting with a first-round draft pick is all but a formality these days, and including a second-rounder isn't worth thinking twice about if Grant lives up to his potential.

The two issues preventing a better grade are simple: Grant has a massive contract and a long history of injuries that must be factored in.

Grant is in the second season of a five-year, $160 million contract that will pay him $29,793,104 in 2024-25. It's not as groundbreaking a figure as it would've been a few seasons prior, as his contract projects to absorb roughly 20 percent of the salary cap in each season moving forward.

With Anthony Davis and LeBron James paid roughly $92 million combined in 2024-25, and nearly $107 million in 2025-26, however, another big contract would be tough to take on.

Grant has averaged 20.8 points and 2.1 three-point field goals made on 37.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc since 2020. During that same stretch, however, he's missed 18, 35, 19, and 28 games during the respective regular seasons.

Can the Lakers really afford to add yet another high-paid player with extensive injury concerns? Unfortunately, the answer is no—dropping a reasonable trade to a lower grade.

It was a creative solution to the problem of acquiring Grant, but the risk still outweighs the reward for Los Angeles.