Don’t be surprised if Jerami Grant’s still a Piston next season

Jerami Grant is the Detroit Pistons most talked-about trade piece, and with his contract expiring next season, there has been a lot of discussion about his future.  Reading between the lines of general manager Troy Weaver’s recent press conference, do not be shocked if he is still with the Pistons next season.

If you watched the Disney+ documentary on the Beatles ‘Let it Be’, the final scene shows them playing a concert on the roof of their office building. At the end, John Lennon quips: “Did we pass the audition?”

Although no one outside of Pistons management knew it, Jerami Grant was sort of auditioning for a role on next season’s Pistons squad. He did pass his audition with flying colors, which makes the off-season even more interesting.

While there are a bunch of important decisions to be made this summer, the biggest one involving current players might be Grant.  The three-year, $60 million deal that general manager Troy Weaver was excoriated for, at the time, now seen as a bargain, expires following next year.  Grant is eligible for an extension this off-season, potentially as big as four years and $112 million.

When Grant signed with the Pistons in 2020, they did not have much else to hang their hat on, except injury-ravaged Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose, and they were both gone within a few months. Grant happily put up a lot of shots, because there really was no one else to do it. Many Pistons games ended with Grant being basically tossed the ball and told to ‘do something’, because Detroit had no other options.

However, things are different now.

Cade Cunningham is the acknowledged guy with the ball in his hands at the end of games, and he does well at it, leading rookies in clutch points (take that Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes!). Saddiq Bey has turned into an all-around scoring threat, not just a three-point shooter. Newly acquired Marvin Bagley III gives Detroit a low-post threat they have not had since Andre Drummond. The Pistons have more scoring options than simply giving the ball to Grant and hoping he could create something.

For a team with not a lot of draft capital, moving Grant could be seen as a smart move, as there are now players able to step into his position. However, if a team is looking to make the playoffs next year, as the Pistons hope to, Grant is the kind of player you want on your roster.