NBA Trades: Los Angeles Lakers should NOT target Jerami Grant

There is a perception around the league that the Los Angeles Lakers are interested in acquiring Jerami Grant’s services before the trade deadline. Rumors about NBA trades are common this time of year, and this is one of the latest.

Zach Lowe of ESPN on stated December 30th that he has heard the team is willing to offer Kendrick Nunn, Talen Horton-Tucker, and a 2028 first-round pick to get Grant from the Detroit Pistons.

Los Angeles’ desire to acquire Grant is partly related to the organization’s disappointment with the early results from the Russell Westbrook trade. Shams Charania told Pat MacAfee on December 22nd that the organization was looking to acquire a player with younger legs like Grant because the Westbrook trade hasn’t paid dividends.

NBA Trades: The Los Angeles Lakers reasoning behind targeting Jerami Grant is completely opposite to how they’ll actually utilize him

The Lakers’ sentiment is puzzling, as their current offensive system indicates that Grant wouldn’t showcase his younger legs if he were on the team. Los Angeles runs an offensive system centered around transition, post-up, and pick and roll.

The team spends 40 percent of their possessions in these three offensive sets, as they combine to average 46.4 per game. Anthony Davis, LeBron James, and Westbrook account for 65.9 percent of the possessions, combining to average 30.6 per game.

These three players being the focal point of the offense has forced other players to spend a significant amount of time off the ball. The Lakers like to have multiple players standing behind the arc when they run these offensive sets.

The Lakers’ offensive structure has forced role players to spend significant time as spot-up shooters and take most of their shots from behind the arc. Avery Bradley, Carmelo Anthony, and Malik Monk have spent over 30 percent of their possessions in the spot-up role, averaging at least 2.3 per game.

More importantly, Anthony, Bradley, and Monk have taken over 55 percent of their shots from behind the arc averaging at least 3.5 per game. Unfortunately, Grant has not excelled in either of those areas throughout his career.

Grant has spent a lot of time in the role, as the spot-up play type has accounted for 30.1 percent of his possessions since 2015, averaging 3.4 per game. Unfortunately, Grant has a poor track record in this department, shooting 38.6 percent on 3.8 attempts per game.

Grant hasn’t fared any better from behind the arc, shooting 34.6 percent on 2.9 attempts per game. Furthermore, it is unlikely that Los Angeles can put Grant in a position to get maximum production out of him. 31.4 percent of Grant’s output has come from the spot-up role (where he is already inefficient), averaging 3.7 points per game.

Consequently, the Lakers should look at other options with a better track record of performance in both areas in any NBA trades. For example, Tony Snell has shot 42.9 percent in the spot-up role since 2015 on 2.2 attempts per game.

Snell has also performed better from behind the arc throughout his career. He is shooting 39.6 percent on 3.1 shots per game. More importantly, the cost to acquire Snell will be significantly lower than Grant. Snell is currently a part-time player for the Portland Trail Blazer, averaging 12.6 minutes per game in 26 appearances.

On the other hand, Grant is the number one option for the Pistons when healthy, meaning the team will be searching for the best return in a deal for their biggest tradeable asset. Meanwhile, the Lakers could realistically acquire Snell by offering Portland a second-round pick.

In conclusion, the Lakers offensive system indicates that Grant would not be a good fit.