Pistons: 3 important goals for Jerami Grant in 2021-22

Jerami Grant was the surprise signing of the 2020 NBA offseason for the Detroit Pistons. Coming off an excellent NBA bubble performance with the Denver Nuggets, he was a name in demand around the league, but the Pistons had business to conduct with Christian Wood and there probably wouldn’t be enough room for both of them.

Sure enough, there wasn’t room for both, and the Pistons ended up choosing Grant. It seemed absurd from the Pistons’ end to move on from Wood who might as well have been home-grown, and go get a defensive specialist in Grant who had never even been a second option let alone first.

Jerami Grant was the most important player for the Pistons last season, and he’ll need to be again next season. These three goals will get him there.

As for Grant’s own decision to come to Detroit, that was confusing as well. Why jump ship from a contending Nuggets squad where he knew he fit perfectly alongside Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray? Especially when he would have gotten the same three-year, $60 million contract in Denver that he got in Detroit.

It turns out that Jerami Grant and general manager Troy Weaver knew what they were doing after all. Grant had a great debut season in Detroit and swiftly justified the faith that the Pistons brass placed in him, and the Nuggets ended up missing him badly.

With one season in Detroit under his belt, the next season becomes all the more important for a Pistons franchise looking to restore itself to greatness. By reaching these three goals, he’ll help get them to that promised land.