Detroit Pistons: Does Jerami Grant fit the championship timeline?

Detroit Pistons: Jerami Grant’s next contract won’t be a value

As a 27-year-old, Grant will be out of his prime by the time Detroit’s young core is beginning to reach theirs.

Additionally, by the time Grant’s current contract expires, All three of Detroit’s first-round rookies will be eligible for extensions. Stewart and Bey have shown a lot of promise so far in their young careers, and it would come as no surprise if the pair received wealthy contract extensions from the team. Hayes is a bit more of a question mark, but if he develops his shooting and finishing ability, he will also garner at least a decent sum of money.

Cunningham’s contract extension be up the following season, and it is pretty much expected he will receive the max offer possible.

All told, the Pistons could end up with Grant, Stewart, Bey, Cunningham, and possibly Hayes all taking up the majority of their cap space. For a franchise that is not exactly known as a place for players to relocate to at a discount, capping out on this quintet could stall the rebuilding process for Detroit.

Hayes would likely be the first to go if the Pistons came down to a cap crunch, but Grant would hold a much higher annual salary on his potential contract extension than any of the other players on the roster.

With Grant being much older than the rest of Detroit’s core players along with his massive cap hit on a future contract, he would be the prime candidate for a potential trade in the next two seasons.

There would be no better time to trade him than while he is on his current deal. Once Detroit signs him to a lucrative extension, his trade value will begin to plummet.

On his current contract, Weaver could send Grant to just about any team looking to take the next step. He could get his hands on any prospect those teams have for Grant and a pick or two at most.

After an extension, there is no point in trading Grant. He’s locked in and his larger payday would make it harder for Detroit to send him to other teams without taking back a bad contract, not exactly what they are looking for when they will already be capped out.

Detroit cannot really go wrong, either way, trading Grant or keeping him will both have relatively positive outcomes. Trading him could net Detroit another young star. If they keep him, he could still be helpful to their championship aspirations, just in a smaller role.