One of the hottest names bouncing around the NBA trade rumor mill is Detroit’s Jerami Grant. A 6'8" forward scoring 20.1 points a game who can guard multiple positions could help a lot of contenders (or teams making a push to join the ranks of contenders).
However, there are a lot of complicating factors with a Grant trade, starting with do the Pistons really want to trade him? There appears to be a split in the front office according to the brilliant Marc Stein in his latest newsletter:
Arn Tellem can pull rank on Troy Weaver and make the trade happen — if the Pistons can find someone willing to give up their asking price. The Pistons are asking for two first-round picks, or a pick and one promising young player in any trade for Grant (there are reports they want a player and two picks, depending on how good the picks are).
Any team trading for Grant has to factor in his demands as well: He wants a max or near max contract extension — a max is four years, $112 million — plus he wants a featured role in the offense of his new team. Grant was a great fit in his role in Denver, but he left for Detroit to have a larger offensive role, and he doesn’t want to give that up.
The Kings, now out of the Ben Simmons sweepstakes, are seen as a team pushing hard to get Grant. While Grant would help a lot of contenders, those teams may not be willing to pay that extension money or have the offensive role to offer that Grant wants.
Detroit needs to put the ball in the hands of the improving Cade Cunningham and get players that fit well around him, trading Grant could help rebuild in that direction. But it’s no lock the deal gets done, especially if the Pistons are split internally.
