Detroit Pistons: Re-grading Jerami Grant’s signing and their free agency

Detroit Pistons re-grades: Overall grade

Initial grade: D

I make no denial about this, I did not like the Detroit Pistons’ free agency as it happened in real-time. It seemed as though Troy Weaver had scuttled the positive momentum built on draft night, and had done so with uninspiring signings of guys like Mason Plumlee, and throwing a mint at an unproven commodity in Jerami Grant.

All of this while letting homegrown star-in-the-making Christian Wood walk for relatively cheap to the Houston Rockets. It felt like a disaster, and even if there was a plan, it looked like a bad one.

Fast forward less than three months later, and you can see the method to Weaver’s madness. He paid for culture in Mason Plumlee. He shot for the moon with Jerami Grant, getting the cornerstone of the rebuild’s final stage on Day 1, which is something no rebuilding team has ever done before.

He bought low on Josh Jackson, trusting his growing maturity and realization of the mortality of his basketball career and putting faith in his ability to be that No. 4 pick once again.

The Okafor signing was a flop, but whatever. In the aggregate, the valuable signings that the Pistons made are overproducing even the most fantastical expectations and Grant and Jackson together are key pieces for this organization going forward. And entering this free agency, getting two guys they could hang their hat on going forward is a major coup.

It’s not perfect, but it’s getting there.

Overall re-grade: B+