Feb 8, 2024; Portland, Oregon, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Ausar Thompson (9) attempts to score as Portland Trail Blazers small forward Jerami Grant (9, left) and Toumani Camara (33) defend during the first half at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-Imagn Images Soobum Im-Imagn Images

Blazers Roster Situation Could Get Uncomfortable Fast

Originally posted on Portland Trail Blazers on SI
By Alex Kirschenbaum | Last updated Sep 21, 2025 6:30 PM ET

The Portland Trail Blazers have two areas of major roster rotational overlap: the backcourt and forward spots.

When healthy, Portland will be fielding a backcourt of four guards competing for two starting opportunities in recent lottery picks Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson and 35-year-old former multi-time All-Stars Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard. Lillard will likely miss all of 2025-26 recovering from an Achilles tendon rupture.

Three Trail Blazers forwards will be angling for two starting roles, but the priciest one — who's also the most expensive player on the team this season — is also the player likeliest to be relegated to a bench role.

Veteran 3-and-D combo forward Jerami Grant has struggled with healthy issues for years while collecting checks. This year, he'll make $32 million, in the third season of a five-year, $160 million deal he inked with Portland.

The 6-foot-7 wing out of Syracuse has struggled to stay on the floor across the past five seasons with the Detroit Pistons and later the Trail Blazers, missing an average of 27 bouts a year.

In just 47 games last season, he averaged an underwhelming 14.4 points on .373/.365/.849 shooting splits, 3.5 boards, 2.1 dimes, 1.0 blocks and 0.9 swipes a night.

All that absenteeism led to an interesting twist: it gave young guns Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija an opportunity to flourish with major minutes in 2025-26.

Jerami Grant Doesn't Deserve to Start

It would be a dereliction of duty for head coach Chauncey Billups to start Grant over either player at this point. Camara emerged as an All-Defensive Second Teamer and one of the most appetizing perimeter defenders in the league last year.

Camara is no slouch on offense, either. He averaged 11.3 points on a .456/.370/.722 slash line, 5.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.6 blocks per bout.

Avdija became a consistent triple-double threat during the season's home stretch, so good as a scorer and distributor that he's essentially supplanted Henderson and Sharpe as Portland's primary ball handler.

During his 20 final games of the year following the All-Star break, Avidja averaged 23.3 points on .508/.417/.782 shooting splits, 9.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.0 steals a night. On the year, he notched still-solid averages of 16.9 points on .476/.365/.780 shooting splits, 7.3 rebounds and 3.9 dimes.