Detroit Pistons: National media has massively underrated Jerami Grant

Jerami Grant nearly made the All-Star game last season for the Detroit Pistons and finished in the top three for the Most Improved Player Award. Both of these mean he is a very good NBA player.

Averaging well over 20 points on a 50% effective field goal percentage to go alongside great defense and good all-around play, it is fair to say that Grant is one of the better players in the entire league.

Detroit Pistons fans know this, other NBA players know this, and even Olympians know this. The national media seems to ignore this fact.

I’m not saying that Jerami Grant is a top 10 player, but he should be much higher than he is on some of these national media lists.

Earlier this year, Sports Illustrated placed him #79 overall. Granted, this was written before his breakout season and correctly labeled him as a solid role player who was a “top priority” in free agency. For 2020, this is actually a fair assessment, although massive improvement should have been accounted for in more up-to-date rankings.

Detroit Pistons: Why is Jerami Grant so low in these national media rankings?

After the 2021 season, NBA.com announced its top 10 power forwards. Grant was left off the list, although Kelly Olynyk and Draymond Green were included at 10 and five.

Green is a great player but has underperformed recently as the second option. Between Tristan Thompson’s injury and Kevin Durant’s departure, Draymond has had to play a much bigger role, and he simply has not adjusted.

Placing Olynyk over Jerami Grant is simply a crime. Without sounding dramatic, someone should be fired. I mean, he isn’t a starter and is a great role player, but Grant has emerged as a true leader.

Grant was also ranked 47th after the season ended, which initially bodes well. After his preseason ranking of 79th by Sports Illustrated, this is certainly a step up. However, he does deserve to be ahead of Gordon Hayward, Ben Simmons, and maybe even Klay Thomspon at this point in his career.

Why is a dynamic player constantly undervalued? It could have to do with the fact that he played on a very bad team in Detroit. But so did Steph Curry and De’Aaron Fox. Team accomplishments have very little to do with individual rankings.

I suspect that the national outlets that cover these types of power rankings tend to turn a blind eye to small-market teams that don’t have a flashy young player. Aside from the Bucks, the entire Central Division has been victim to this. It’s one of the reasons the Cavaliers, Pacers, Pistons, and Bulls (until last week) have struggled to make any noise.

Jerami Grant is not the best player in the league, not even close. But he is immensely valuable to a growing team on the rise. I hope ESPN, Sports Illustrated, NBC, and others don’t attempt to claim that they knew this team was on the rise when they emerge next year behind Grant, Cunningham, and the young core. They’ve consistently written off the Detroit Pistons and their players and should be eating crow soon enough.