PORTLAND, Ore. — Danny Marang of 1080 The Fan and the Jacked Ramsays podcast joined KGW's Orlando Sanchez on Sports Sunday to discuss the Portland Trail Blazers offseason, including what to make of reports of trade discussions between the Blazers and Lakers about Jerami Grant, other Blazers trade possibilities, expectations for rookie Donovan Clingan and more.
Here's a transcript of the conversation, which has been edited for brevity.
SANCHEZ: Welcome to the show, friend of the show Danny Marang. You can catch him on 1080 The Fan as well as the Jack Ramsays podcast. Danny, help us make sense of this offseason so far. How would you describe the state of the Portland Trail Blazers?
MARANG: It's a transition, right? It's not out with the old, in with the new, but I think you're starting to make more sense of what they're trying to build. ... They're not getting rid of everyone, but you're starting to see the bones of what they want or could have going forward with Scoot (Henderson), Shaedon (Sharpe), (Deni) Avdija, Toumani Camara, Donovan Clingan, as kind of being your foundational building pieces, if you're looking at just age alone.
SANCHEZ: One guy that has stood out that has been mentioned in rumors and reports is Jerami Grant. What do you think about those rumors and reports that he could be in line to be moved?
MARANG: I know of a handful of teams that have showed direct and real interest in Jerami and that's not new. The same was true at the trade deadline. I think the Trail Blazers are now actually open to the idea but are also holding firm to what their price is. There's been rumored discussion between the Lakers and Blazers and I know those to be true. As I understand it right now, the Trail Blazers are holding out for draft capital the Lakers aren't willing to put on the table. But I don't think the Blazers are just trying to move him out just to move him out. I think they're looking at an opportunity to get real tangible assets back in a turn. And if they're not gonna get that, there's no reason for them to move him because he has multiple years left on his contract.
SANCHEZ: Yeah. And you just touched on that there, Danny, but the fact that we've even seen it previously with the Damian Lillard trade, it doesn't seem like Joe Cronin is going to be quick to make any moves and he's going to take his time.
MARANG: I don't think Joe Cronin and his staff are in any position where they feel like they have to move Jerami for, for any reason or for any team. I will speak pretty strongly in saying Jerami Grant is plenty happy here and the Blazers are plenty happy with him here. So there's no onus for either side to force action here.
SANCHEZ: Do you think this 15-man roster the way it is right now is what we'll see on opening night?
MARANG: No, I think there will be at least one more move. Whether it's Jerami, whether it's Robert Williams III. They could potentially look at moving Deandre Ayton, although as much as they may canvass the market, I don't think they'll do that because they want to have somebody in front of Donovan Clingan, and allow Ayton to kind of show what he can be a little bit more, I believe. I don't think there's going to be a ton of movement around Anfernee Simons. I don't believe there's been any discussions between either Anfernee Simons or the team about a potential move, regardless of what may or may not be out there in the world. I feel pretty strongly in saying I don't think that either side has discussed anything along those lines yet.
SANCHEZ: Draft night, most of the action of the offseason taking place even beforehand, so let's talk about the first deal and bringing in Deni Avdija. What do you think about him and what do you think he brings to the table? How does he fit in with this Trail Blazers squad?
MARANG: I really like Avdija. When I saw that the deal had gone down, I was actually shocked. I know there's some people out there that think that the price was a little high, giving up two first-round picks and Malcolm Brogdon. The flip side of that being Deni is the exact kind of player that they need and that they wanted for years. He's a 6-foot-9 multi-positional forward who's shown growth literally every year he's been in the league. Started knocking down his 3s last year, particularly from the corner, shot 40% from 3. There's gonna be some regression there. He's one of the better rebounding forwards in the league. He's never rated below the 85th percentile as a rebounder at his position in the league. That's a big boon for them. And the thing that they've needed probably more than anything, playmaking with size is the rarest commodity in the entire NBA, and you've got a 6-foot-9 guy who rates as a plus contributor as a playmaker. I think that's a huge, huge, huge get for them, because he can make sense playing either the three or the four.
SANCHEZ: Their No. 7 overall pick in Donovan Clingan, he just signed his contract this week. So just your thoughts on the pick overall?
MARANG: 7-foot-3, 285-pound absolute monster of a human. Seeing him in person at his press conference last Saturday, it was like, this kid is huge! The Blazers under Joe Cronin and his staff have really prioritized being bigger, stronger, longer, more physical. They've been bigger, stronger, longer. They haven't been more physical. Getting a guy like Donovan Clingan who addresses the screening, addresses the physicality, who addresses rim protection, who addresses rebounding, I think they hit a home run based on the goals they were trying to accomplish.
SANCHEZ: He is Danny Marang. You can catch him on 1080 The Fan as well as the Jack Ramsey's podcast. Appreciate you, man.
MARANG: Hey, any time, brother.