Jerami Grant wasn’t holding his breath as the trade deadline inched closer on Thursday. He’d already gotten assurances from Troy Weaver he wasn’t going anywhere.
“I talked to him well before. So I knew. I’m a Piston,” he said nearly seven hours later, after a 132-107 loss to the bruising Memphis Grizzlies. “It’s where I am. It’s what I’m going to do.”
Grant spent weeks targeted by playoff hopefuls to legitimate title contenders as the hottest name on the rumor mill for everything he represents in the modern NBA: a two-way wing with 3-point shooting ability, length and maximum defensive versatility.
Those are also the reasons Weaver targeted him in free agency 15 months earlier and offered a contract – three years, a reported $60 million – that raised eyebrows at the time but would be welcomed in 29 other NBA front offices today. In part because of the building block Grant represents, the Pistons look at Memphis, not long ago in the same straits they inhabit now, and see a path to their future.
Four years ago the Grizzlies launched their rebuild and took Jaren Jackson Jr. out of Michigan State with the fourth pick. A year later they were blessed with the second pick used on Ja Morant. Since starting Morant’s third season 10-10, they’re now 29-8 and chasing the Warriors and Suns in the Western Conference.
“They were in the same situation we were in when they first came in,” Dwane Casey said of the back-to-back high lottery picks. “They’ve added a lot of good pieces around those guys. Steven Adams is a huge piece for them. Their IQ has really grown over the years. Their motto is the way we should be looking: shooting, interior size and basketball IQ. That’s what we’re trying to build here.”
Morant has emerged as a transformative player in his third season, providing the type of impact the Pistons have every reason to expect of Cade Cunningham – who missed his fifth straight game with a hip pointer – once he’s navigated the NBA a few more times. They’ll need to acquire or develop a few more of those good pieces Casey saw come at the Pistons in waves from the Memphis side.
Toward that end, they’ll get the season’s final two months to see if Marvin Bagley III, acquired from Sacramento at the deadline for Josh Jackson and Trey Lyles, can be one of them. He comes with a terrific pedigree as the No. 2 pick in 2018, two picks ahead of Jackson, and offers some of that precious interior size, at 6-foot-11, that Casey could have used on a night the Pistons were outrebounded 58-41.
Grant, who scored 20 points in his best all-around game since returning two weeks ago from a 24-game absence with a thumb injury compounded by a bout of COVID-19, was in the Western Conference as the Grizzlies transitioned from the Marc Gasol-Mike Conley group to the current Morant-Jackson core. He sees the Pistons turning that corner and staying put to see it through was his desire.
“We’ve got a lot of possibilities,” he said. “We’ve got a good core group of young guys, extremely talented as everyone can tell. We’ve just got to put it together and start stringing together some wins.”
Casey had talked to Grant weeks ago when his name became prominent in every speculative story on players being targeted by contenders, but he never felt Grant had become distracted by the hum. And he loved what he saw from Grant with a resolution on his status finally at hand, too.
“I was really proud of the way Jerami played tonight,” he said. “I was afraid he was going to have a (trade deadline) hangover and he did not. He moved the ball, took what the defense gave him and competed on the defensive end. I’ve seen it happen over the years – guys in trade rumors. I thought he came out and really played the right way.”
Grant didn’t hit a 3-point shot in four tries, but was lethal inside the arc, hitting 7 of 9 shots and getting to the line for seven free throws. The Pistons have endured injuries to key players since Cunningham’s sprained ankle cost him all of training camp, but they’re hopeful to make the most of the final two months once Cunningham is back and Bagley gets settled in.
“Most of the year we’ve been switching lineups a lot and people are getting used to playing with different people and playing different ways,” Grant said. “It’s going to take some time. We’ve still got (27) games left. We’ll be healthy for a good number of them. We’ll get a better feel for it then.”