The Detroit Pistons are building around Cade Cunningham and may already have two of the other foundational pieces in place.
Midway through the season, it seemed to be a lock that the Pistons would trade Jerami Grant, as the offers were reportedly pouring in and rebuilding Detroit had a chance to cash in on their best trade asset.
But the Pistons never got the offer they wanted, and in the end, weren’t as close to trading Grant as we thought.
They could certainly still trade him in the offseason, when there might be even more teams looking to add the versatile forward to the their roster.
One of those teams is Portland, who is reportedly very interested in Grant and looked to be recruiting him last night in the Pistons’ loss to the Trail Blazers.
If Portland ends up with a top-10 pick in the NBA Draft, I am sure those talks will heat up once again.
But I think the Pistons (and their fans) are coming around to the idea of keeping Jerami Grant to put with Cade Cunningham and Saddiq Bey and there are good reasons why.
Cade Cunningham, Saddiq Bey and Jerami Grant producing as the Pistons’ Big 3
At the beginning of the season, Jerami Grant was still playing as the Pistons’ number one option, dribbling the ball too much, working in isolation, taking long 2-point shots and basically doing all of the things we were worried about coming into the season.
But since coming back from his injury, Jerami Grant has adjusted his game to be more of a complementary offensive weapon behind Cade Cunningham and Saddiq Bey.
And it is working.
In the last 20 games the three played together, they are averaging 57.2 combined points per game, 15.5 rebounds and 11.8 assists, and doing it on fairly efficient shooting splits.
Grant is taking fewer shots, the offense is running through Cade and Bey is getting plenty of looks in isolation as well as the catch-and-shoot.
All three are versatile defensively and can fit in with a variety of different players.
This is a trio that will average more than 60 points per game on most nights, even more next season, and all of them are currently on favorable contracts. What am I missing here?
It seems like the Pistons should be building around these three, not looking to break them up.
Jerami Grant is a proven 3rd guy for the Detroit Pistons
It is now clear that Cade Cunningham and Saddiq Bey are the Pistons’ top-2 scoring options on most nights, with Jerami Grant filling the role as the 3rd guy.
If Grant is your third scoring option, then that’s not bad, as he is a guy who will get you 20 a night and has the potential to drop a 40-spot like he did two games ago.
Grant is a team player who wants to be in Detroit and gives the team proven and consistent production.
Yes, the Pistons hope to add another top draft pick that could eventually work into their Big 3, in which case Grant is the fourth option, even better!
But he also gives Detroit insurance against that draft pick or free agent not working out, in which case you still have three potential 20 ppg scorers to build around.
Few NBA teams have a 3rd guy who is a threat to go off for 40 points, so if Grant is willing to be that guy, I see no reason not to put him in that role until someone else takes it.
If the Pistons were to trade him for the 10th or 11th pick in a weak draft, there is no guarantee they’d even get a rotation player, much less a borderline All-Star.
The Detroit Pistons are close to being good
In case you haven’t been paying attention, before last night, the Pistons were 14-0-1 against the spread in their last 15 games.
They’ve either been close or won all of them, and have been a very competitive team since the middle of February, which is the last time they were blown out.
With Cade, Grant, Saddiq, Hamidou Diallo, Frank Jackson and possibly Marvin Bagley III, the Pistons already have some of the pieces they need to be a good team.
Finding a “Big 3” is a whole lot harder than finding role players, which is what the Pistons need at this point.
They need some shooting and a veteran or two who can give them consistent production off the bench. They also need a shooting guard who can actually shoot.
If they get a guard like Jaden Ivey in the 2022 NBA Draft, add a few shooters and a veteran big who can block shots and run the floor, this team might actually be good next season.
Trading Jerami Grant for another draft pick and more hope just sets that clock back and potentially makes the Pistons worse next season.
It’s time for this team to stop tanking and start trying to win and Jerami Grant as the 3rd option gives them the best chance to do that while still keeping their options for the future open as they continue to add young talent.