5 biggest takeaways from the Detroit Pistons’ 2021-22 season

Trading Jerami Grant will set the Detroit Pistons back

It seems that fans are now resigned to the fact that the Detroit Pistons will trade Jerami Grant in the offseason.

The most popular destination is Portland, who has two first-round picks and could offer one of them up in exchange for Grant, which would not only give the Pistons more draft ammo but would clear some cap space.

Here’s the thing: If the Pistons do trade Grant, they will likely be worse next season. It seems crazy to me that fans are so willing to trade away a very good role player in Grant for the 12th-14th pick in a weak draft.

I understand he is on the final year of his deal, but he is only 28 and the Detroit Pistons can afford to extend him, which may not be the worst option. I know there are fans (they are typing in the comments now, hi guys!) who hate the idea of re-signing Grant and will throw out words like “timeline” to justify getting rid of the team’s leading scorer for a teenager.

All teams need veterans, you cannot win with all young players and as Troy Weaver said, “They will eat each other” without veterans there to show them how to be pros.

That being said, if the right deal is there, then I am ok with the Detroit Pistons trading Grant, but be careful what you wish for, as he played well with Cade Cunningham this season, showed he is willing to take on a smaller role and his 4 year/$112 million extension is still a decent bargain by today’s standards for a starting NBA forward.

I can also see the argument that paying someone that much to be your 3rd or 4th best player might not be the best use of resources. But this will come down to more than just stats and money, as Grant chose Detroit, wants to be there and Weaver might see more intangible value in his leadership than fans will.