When Jerami Grant was available in potential trades this offseason, he was most strongly linked with the Portland Trail Blazers and was eventually traded there. But the Milwaukee Bucks were another team that expressed interest in trading for Grant when he was made available by the Detroit Pistons.

A similar, albeit lesser player in Jae Crowder is now available on the trade market by the Phoenix Suns and could fit the profile of what the Bucks are looking for. Milwaukee previously had P.J. Tucker play that role for them when they won their championship, but they elected not to re-sign him during the 2021 offseason.

"The Bucks will look though I bet," said Zach Lowe on his podcast about Milwaukee potentially having interest in Crowder. "The Bucks were sneakily kind of sniffing around Jerami Grant in Detroit before Portland swooped in. I think they like the idea of the switchable, switchable, switchable guys."

The Blazers acquired Grant from the Pistons in a package built around a 2025 first round pick via the Bucks and No. 36 in 2022. 

The Portland Trail Blazers signed Wes Iwundu to a training camp contract, the team announced on Friday.

Iwundu appeared in three games for the Hawks last season. 

The Portland Trail Blazers hired Tina Thompson as a scout, the team announced on Wednesday. 

The Blazers also announced several other organizational hires, including Jonah Herscu as an assistant coach and David Adkins as director of player development. 

Gary Payton II underwent surgery in July to address a core muscle injury, according to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Payton is expected to be fully healthy by the start of the regular season.

The Blazers signed Payton to a three-year, $28 million deal this offseason. 

While on The Dave Pasch Podcast, Damian Lillard was asked about his future with the Portland Trail Blazers. Lillard was clear when asked if he hopes to be with Portland for his entire career.

“Yes, I do (plan on being a Blazer for life),” Lillard said. “I’ve had my share of people saying ‘Man, you got to get out of there! You’ve got to do this; you’ve got do to that.’ But I’m the type of person that I’m never going to be marching to the beat of nobody else’s drum."

Lillard went on to say he follows his heart. He added that he's loyal to the Trail Blazers organization.

“I’m gonna always do what I feel like is in my best interest and that I really feel in my heart," Lillard said. "I’ve said this on many different occasions, they call it ‘He’s being loyal!’ and ‘Loyalty this, loyalty that’ and I’m like, I’m naturally a loyal person but I do have a level of loyalty to the organization. But this loyalty that they’re talking about is ultimately to who I am as a person. I’m being loyal to who I am and not getting beside myself because I’m somebody that, I believe what I believe.”

Lillard said he knows many think he needs to leave Portland to win a championship. But he believes that he can win at the highest levels with the Trail Blazers.

“I think I can get it done. Now, everybody else might say ‘There’s no way the Blazers will ever win. They need to do this, they need to do that.’ But that’s just not how I feel about the situation," Lillard said. “I feel like we’ll have a chance to win, I feel like that moment is going to come, I feel like that opportunity is going to come. And that’s that.”

The Portland Trail Blazers signed Devontae Cacok to an Exhibit 10 contract, reported Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Cacok played 36 games over the past three seasons for the Spurs and Lakers. 

The Portland Trail Blazers signed Olivier Sarr to an Exhibit 10 deal, sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The 23-year-old Sarr played 22 games for the Thunder last season.