Boston Celtics nab Jerami Grant, Detroit Pistons bring on young assets and picks
Jerami Grant is a player we at the Houdini have been talking about pursuing for quite some time, as his skill set would be a perfect fit within the team’s current rotation and in Brad Stevens’ preferred scheme.
With this deal, Ainge would manage to address both their power forward position and their second unit floor spacing, two specific areas that are in need of some serious improvements.
Currently in his seventh season in the association, Grant is finding himself posting career highs virtually all across the board. Through 33 games played, the 26-year-old is posting per-game averages of 23.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.1 blocks per game on 43 percent shooting from the floor and 36 percent shooting from deep.
He’d be a seamless fit at the four on both ends of the court, as he’s a floor-spacing/ multi-faceted offensive big who is highly versatile on defense with the speed, athleticism, and IQ to guard several positions.
Along with him, we see the expiring contract of Wayne Ellington who, though he may not be the sexiest of names in the NBA, would provide extra firepower off the bench for their fourth-worst points-per-game production and second-lowest 3-point attempting unit (averaging 10.6 points on 44 percent shooting from deep).
In exchange, the main draw for the Pistons is the five draft picks that come to town — three firsts, two seconds. It’s obvious that this team is heading towards the rebuilding/ youth movement, and, when in this phase, a team’s best friend is draft capital. Considering this deal also brings them into the stacked 2021 draft (Detroit’s pick is owned by the Rockets), this is certainly a solid place for them to start.
Along with these picks comes the expiring contract in Daniel Theis, the season and a half remaining on Tristan Thompson’s deal, the past two lottery selections for the Celtics in Romeo Langford & Aaron Nesmith, and Grant Williams.
Specifically adding the talents of Langford and Nesmith to the team’s young roster is quite an intriguing concept, and gives this team a nice leg up moving forward into their rebuild.
Despite their early struggles in the league, all three of these youthful players came into the NBA with plenty of hype, and still have the potential to flourish in this league if given the proper development, ample playing time, and less pressure to perform right away.
The Pistons are easily more in a situation to provide these kinds of situations than the win-now Boston Celtics.