Panathinaikos Considers Releasing Guard Jerian Grant Amid Backcourt Reinforcements

Jerian Grant is reportedly a likely candidate to leave Panathinaikos as the Greek basketball club seeks to strengthen its backcourt. Following initial reports from Israel’s Sport 5 about Hapoel Tel Aviv negotiating for Grant’s services and offering compensation, Greek media also discussed the situation. On the podcast Fast Break, journalist Tolis Kotsias explained that Panathinaikos is looking to add one or two significant guards, which would reduce Grant’s playing time to under ten minutes per game. In such a scenario, it would be surprising if no backcourt player departs, and Grant is considered the most probable to leave.

Besides Hapoel Tel Aviv, a team from Dubai has expressed interest in Grant, although no official approach has been made yet. The podcast also noted that Grant changed agents last summer, which might influence his potential move. They concluded that if a club shows serious interest, Grant might be willing to transfer.

Grant has maintained a relatively stable role under former coach Argin Ataman, who left Panathinaikos last summer. However, his statistics this season have declined compared to previous years, averaging 6.9 points, 3.5 assists, and 1.1 steals per EuroLeague game. In his first season with Panathinaikos, he averaged 8.6 points and similar assist and steal numbers. The club recently returned to coach Željko Obradović, who signed Branko Lazić to bolster the backcourt alongside Kendrick Nunn and Kostas Sloukas, making the competition for guard minutes even tougher.