It’s tough to know what to expect from the Detroit Pistons next season, but Jerami Grant has set his sights on the playoffs.
Grant laid this out in a recent Discord Q&A in which someone asked him what he expected out of next season:
Jerami Grant in Discord: “Expectation (this year) is playoffs” pic.twitter.com/G73z3mRkUT
— Blake (@blakesilverman) September 17, 2021
Look, every player would say something similar, as no one is going to say, “yeah, my expectations are that we stink again next season and I waste another year of my prime.”
But is Jerami Grant right to have these lofty goals? I think you can make an argument either way (which I will) but one thing is not in doubt: Jerami Grant will improve.
Detroit Pistons: Jerami Grant is primed to be an All-Star
Jerami Grant blew up last season in an expanded role for the Detroit Pistons, going from the 4th option in Denver to the first in Detroit.
Grant carried the team for most of the season with a 28.5 percent usage rate that was by far the highest of his career.
He had career highs in just about everything so how is Jerami Grant going to build on that? He needs to stay healthy first and foremost, as the grind of carrying a young team clearly wore him down by the end of last season.
He also needs to be more efficient shooting the ball, which I think will come when guys like Cade Cunningham share more of the scoring load. If Grant can shoot closer to 40 percent from long range, he should make the All-Star team next season, as he as already proven himself to be one of the most versatile defenders in the NBA.
But what about his team goals? Can the Detroit Pistons really be expected to make the playoffs at this stage of their rebuild?
Detroit Pistons: Why the Pistons won’t make the playoffs
I think the Detroit Pistons are a tough team to call, but they only won 20 games last season and most predictions will have them out of the playoffs again next season.
This makes sense, as they are one of the most inexperienced teams in the league and will be expecting rookie Cade Cunningham to lead them.
Cunningham has superstar potential, but point guard is the toughest position in the league to learn and he is bound to have some growing pains along the way.
Most of the Pistons best players are going to be youngsters, and with the exceptions of Jerami Grant and Kelly Olynyk, the Pistons will be counting on a lot of inexperienced players to get it done.
Also, the Eastern Conference has improved, with teams like the Bulls, Hornets, Wizards and Raptors all expected to be better and to join the teams at the top in the playoffs.
The Pistons would have to overtake four teams from last season just to make the play-in tournament, which will be tough, as they have all improved.
If you look at a realistic timeline for contention, the Pistons are most likely to make moderate gains but still come up just short of the playoffs.
But if you look more closely, this isn’t as daunting as it might seem.
Detroit Pistons: Why the Pistons will make the playoffs
Like Jerami Grant, Cade Cunningham wants to make the playoffs in his first season in the league, which you love to see, as Detroit didn’t draft him to maintain the status quo.
Yes, Detroit only won 20 games last season, but if you actually watched them, you saw a team that battled each and every night and lost a lot of close games.
No other team at the bottom added a player like Cunningham, so the Pistons arguably got better than the teams immediately ahead of them in the standings last season.
The Pistons had the 10th-best defense in the NBA in terms of points allowed last season, a strength they can build on, and coupled with the offensive improvements that Cunningham and Olynyk will bring, the Pistons should be able to turn some of those close losses into wins.
They will also have much more continuity, as their players will have had more time to develop chemistry with a full offseason together and guys like Hamidou Diallo and Frank Jackson figure to improve and play larger roles.
Detroit will arguably be better at every position and are hoping that improvement will lead to at least 10 or so more wins, which would put them within shouting distance of the play-in tournament.
I think it is a long shot that the Detroit Pistons make it, but I love that Jerami Grant has high expectations, and hope that the Pistons can meet or exceed them.