Detroit Pistons: 5 takeaways from the first 5 games

5. Maybe Jerami Grant was ready for that expanded role after all

Of all the moves that perplexed folks around the NBA this offseason, Jerami Grant’s decision to sign a three-year, $60 million deal with the Detroit Pistons instead of an identical deal with the Denver Nuggets is near the top. Grant is essentially the missing piece for any team that hopes to get through LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and that’s not a factor for a bad Pistons team looking to rebuild.

Ostensibly, Grant chose the Pistons because they could offer him an expanded role as a scorer, one that was beyond his grasp with the Nuggets because Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic are firmly ensconced at the top of the pecking order. He saw the Pistons as an opportunity and reportedly even overruled his agent’s advice to return to Denver.

To media and NBA insiders alike, it seemed preposterous. The Pistons didn’t have much playmaking, and to this point, Grant is the kind of player who needs offense created for him rather than creating it himself.

He’s been nothing short of a revelation in Detroit. As his own opportunities have increased to a career-high usage rate of 24.0 percent, his production hasn’t lagged much at all. His 3-pointer isn’t dropping, shooting just 33.3 percent, but he’s leading the team in scoring with 23.0 points per game.

Maybe he wanted a bigger role, maybe he just wanted to get away from Michael Porter Jr. during a pandemic, who knows exactly. What really matters is that he’s making the most of his opportunity in Detroit and more than living up to that deal in these early days.