The Best of the Day: January 8th, 2021

Jerami Grant wasn’t a “one-bubble wonder,” and is turning his lucrative contract into a bargain

The Pistons had an interesting offseason. They started with three first round picks, but then it got weird. Detroit signed big men Mason Plumlee and Jahlil Okafor for a combined $10M/year, letting their 25-year-old budding star Christian Wood walk for just under $14 million a season. The Pistons also threw $60 million at Jerami Grant for the next three seasons, who came alive during the Nuggets’ playoff run in the bubble but hadn’t proved to be worth $20M/year besides that limited sample size. Grant is still just 26, but many questioned that kind of money for a guy averaging under 10 points and four rebounds in his career. 

Fortunately for the Pistons, they seemed to have gotten it right as Jerami Grant is having a career year in every way possible. He’s averaging career-highs in PTS (24.8), REB (6.4), and FT% (86.5%), while converting 46.8% FG and 36.3% 3PA. Grant has also scored a career-high 31 points in each of the Pistons’ last two games, a loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday, and an upset victory in OT against the Suns on Friday. Grant put in eight of the team’s 17 points in the OT period, including the final six. 

The Pistons will likely not see much time beyond the bottom of the standings this season. Selling at the deadline seems inevitable, as players like Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin could become valuable pieces to a contender and could net promising young players and/or draft picks for a team that isn’t built to contend anytime soon. The Pistons have Grant locked up for three years, they’ve resurrected the career of 23-year-old Josh Jackson who’s locked up for two, and they could accumulate some serious draft assets at the deadline to add to their already young roster that Grant has taken over as the No.1 option for.

Related: NBA Takeaways of the Day