2020 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far
By Duncan Smith
Jerami Grant: 3 years, $60 million (Detroit Pistons)
The Detroit Pistons don’t come out of the evening empty-handed even after losing Christian Wood to the Houston Rockets. It’s safe to assume the organization was informed that he would not be returning, so they set their sights on his replacement, Jerami Grant.
According to TJ McBride, the Denver Nuggets offered Grant the same three-year, $60 million deal, but Denver’s more stocked talent-wise and the Pistons could offer him an expanded role thanks to the fact that they simply don’t have a lot of good players on the roster.
Last season Grant averaged 12.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. He also shot 38.9 percent from 3-point range. He started 24 of the 71 games he played and provided solid defense, and his performance in the NBA bubble surely helped buoy his rate of pay as he averaged 15.6 points and shot 52.6 percent from the field.
Grant fills a position of need on this roster, but there are plenty of positions of need. He’s also getting paid a big number to do it, relative to what can be expected from his production. If there’s one thing that Pistons fans can look to for some comfort, it’s the fact that the Nuggets, a remarkably savvy organization, were looking to present him the same contract and were disappointed when he left. Of course, he left and the Nuggets are now empty-handed, but they wanted him, and that’s validation for the Pistons’ desires.