After completing a near All-Star level campaign in 2020-21, Detroit Pistons power forward Jerami Grant is looking to take the next step into stardom this upcoming season.
Last offseason, Grant left the contending Denver Nuggets in search of a team that would provide him with a larger role offensively. It did not take long for him to find a new home. In his first offseason as Pistons general manager, Troy Weaver brought in the then 26-year-old Grant to a three-year contract.
Grant’s three-year deal was worth a little over $60 million. The now 27-year-old’s average annual salary is roughly $20 million per season. At the time of this signing, Grant was still considered nothing more than a high-end role player. The national media saw the signing as a major overpay, despite the fact that Denver was willing to match Detroit’s offer.
In the first game of the season, Grant got off to a rough start. The Syracuse product scored just nine points off of 11 shots. He also sank only one of his five three-point attempts. After game one, the critics and naysayers appeared to be right about Grant taking on a larger role in Detroit. But the 27-year-old would quickly turn those criticisms on their heads.
Over the next 23 games, Grant went on a tear, averaging 25 points per game while shooting 45.5 percent from the floor and 40.1 percent from beyond the arc. The forward also grabbed 5.7 rebounds per game, dished out three assists per game, and blocked 1.2 shots per game during that stretch as well.
But as the season wore on, the offensive load on Grant began to wear on him. There was no Nikola Jokic to help shoulder the load, and 23 games into the season, Detroit traded their sixth-man and second-leading points per game scorer, Derrick Rose, to the New York Knicks. Three games later Blake Griffin played his final game with the Pistons as he and the franchise would seek out a trade and eventual buy-out moving forward.
The departure’s of Griffin and Rose placed a heavy offensive burden on Grant’s shoulders. The 27-year-old quickly became the unquestionable first option on Detroit’s roster. After Rose and Griffin were removed from Detroit’s rotation, that added pressure showed in Grant’s play.
The seventh-year wing saw more double-teams and defensive pressure rotated mainly to stop him from getting to the basket. Besides rookie small forward Saddiq Bey, Grant did not have a reliable scorer alongside him for much of the season following the departures of Griffin and Rose.
The added defensive pressure and extended offensive burden caused Grant’s efficiency to dip. The 27-year-old would finish off the season averaging 22.3 points 4.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.1 blocks.
Grant had his lowest efficiency since his days as a youngster with the Process-era Philadelphia 76ers, as he finished the season shooting 42.9 percent from the floor. Grant also had his worst three-point shooting season since the 2017-18 season, as he finished the season shooting 35 percent from three-point range.
Despite his numbers falling off since his initial hot start to the season, Grant was still a finalist for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award. He would finish second, falling short to Knicks power forward Julius Randle.
Grant was in the conversation for an All-Star selection this past season as well. It would have been the 27-year-old’s first selection, had he been named to the team. But Grant would fall short of being selected.
Now, coming off of a Gold Medal victory with the United States Olympic team, and returning to a Pistons roster that has seen much improvement over the offseason, Grant is poised to make another push for an All-Star nod this upcoming season.
It is undeniable that Grant will need to take another step forward in his play this season in order to make an All-Star team. But Grant now has the right cast around him, to boost him further into the All-Star conversation.