OKC Thunder: What they will miss with Jerami Grant gone

The OKC Thunder have traded away Jerami Grant to the Denver Nuggets for a 2020 first round pick. They will miss his presence.

The Oklahoma City Thunder look to be in a rebuild. The big news came on the end of the free agency moratorium period when Paul George found his way out of OKC. The OKC Thunder dealt George to the Los Angeles Clippers for two players and a bevy of first round picks.

When Paul George was dealt, that wasn’t the end of it. On Saturday, it was reported that Russell Westbrook would meet with the front office to discuss his future, and now it appears a trade is imminent. The potential suitors seem to be either the New York Knicks, Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls.

The Houston Rockets are a team that would like to have Westbrook, but have a slim chance of pulling off a trade. Westbrook likes the Miami Heat and it seems that would be a place he would welcome going to.

The Thunder are not done with their fire sale either. The Thunder traded away Jerami Grant on Monday in a luxury and salary tax move. In return, they received a 2020 first round draft pick from the Denver Nuggets.

The move helps save $39 million in salary and luxury tax money, so that was a move that seemed inevitable once the franchise veered toward a rebuild. OKC now has six future first round picks to work with to rebuild its team.

Jerami Grant is a player that the Thunder will miss. He was just catching on in terms of his 3-point shooting. He made 115 3-pointers this past season in 39.2 percent shooting, both of which were career highs for him. That is not why he will be missed though.

Grant was able to defend multiple positions and had length down low that couldn’t be taught. Also, his upside was something that was just being realized. Now, he’s gone.

Grant had the ability to guard the shooting guard, small forward, power forward and sometimes the center positions. His ability to switch onto different players was a great tool in the pick-and-roll game.

Grant is typically a small forward but he was able to play out of position at the power forward spot because of his versatility. His length — he has a 7’3″ wingspan — is what helped him play down low even though he’s undersized in terms of weight and sometimes height.

Last season he averaged 1.3 blocks per game, which is the most he’s averaged since 2015-16 when he averaged 1.6 a night. His 100 total blocks were the most on the team. The Thunder will never be able to see him use his length to his fullest potential now.

Grant’s upside was about to be realized and now he’s off to a new situation. He was showing the potential to be a two-way threat. He was also showing flashes of being able to put the ball on the floor and create. His upside was something that OKC could look forward to in the future.

The Thunder now have Danilo Gallinari to place in the spot of Jerami Grant. Gallinari is a better 3-point shooter and all-around player at this point, but is not as athletic. He also doesn’t have as much upside as Grant does.

OKC has moved on, but will miss Jerami Grant in the future.