The Detroit Pistons may have one of the hottest trade assets on the market in Jerami Grant and there are a number of teams who are reportedly interested.
One of those teams is the hated Los Angeles Lakers, who are just 16-16 even though they have two of the best players in the world and signed just about every available veteran in the offseason to make another title run.
They have lost three in a row and are staring down the possibility of being in the play-in tournament or even worse.
Many believe the Lakers will make a move for one more veteran, but with few assets or mid-range salaries, it won’t be easy for them to find an impact player.
I would love to see the Detroit Pistons use this desperation to try and drive up the price for Jerami Grant.
Pistons and Lakers trade for Jerami Grant
I don’t really like the Lakers as a destination for Grant, partly because I’d be loathe to help them win another title and they don’t really have the right pieces.
Or do they?
The Pistons would likely want at least one proven NBA player with upside, an expiring contract and a pick, and if you look closely, the Lakers actually have all of those things to trade.
There are some things to like about this trade for the Detroit Pistons and I am sure the Lakers would at least consider it, but for me, the value of getting this offer might not be the potential return but the market it would create.
Detroit Pistons: Potential trade of Jerami Grant to the Lakers
On the surface there are some things to like about this trade for the Detroit Pistons.
They’d get a rotation player in THT who is only 21-years-old, has already proven he can play and still has upside. The downside is that he can’t be traded until after March 3rd, as he just signed a new deal. His contract would have some appeal to the Pistons, as he is on a team-friendly deal that only runs two more seasons.
Nunn hasn’t played this season but he would theoretically give the Pistons some scoring punch off the bench if they wanted to keep him and if not, he is on a low-ball deal that ends after this season.
Austin Reeves would add a young shooter to the Pistons’ bench, something they desperately need, and they’d also get a distant future pick that may be valuable, as the Lakers could be awful by then, who knows.
But with two of the three players on expiring deals, the Pistons would essentially be trading Grant for THT and that is not enough to move the needle in my opinion. I would not do this deal, but if I were Troy Weaver I’d be getting on the phone to the Lakers, then leaking this offer (if they made it or one similar) to every other team in the league.
The Lakers could set the trade market for Jerami Grant and the Pistons
The Jerami Grant trade market is going to be set by the first legitimate offer that is leaked by one of the teams.
With as many as 10 teams interested in Jerami Grant, the Pistons should hope a team like the Lakers makes this type of offer so they can turn it down and make it the baseline for a Jerami Grant trade.
Teams in the Western Conference like the Utah Jazz or Golden State Warriors might increase their offers if they think the Lakers have a chance to land Grant, as he could be enough to move the needle, especially if they are only giving up one starter in return.
The Pistons are in the driver’s seat here because they don’t have to trade Grant, who still has another year on his deal after this one and will likely have similar value in the offseason or at next year’s deadline.
But that doesn’t mean they won’t listen to offers, so they should be gathering as many as they can, pitting teams against each other in a bidding war for the trade deadline’s best asset.