The Spurs Should Make This Offer For Pistons' Jerami Grant

The San Antonio Spurs are in desperate need of a rim protector and secondary scoring threat to pair with Dejounte Murray. Jakob Poeltl is having the best offensive season of his career, but he is not a good secondary scorer for a playoff-hopeful team. Derrick White is wildly inconsistent and his outside shot has been nonexistent. 

The Spurs tested the waters with a rather small midseason trade, sending Bryn Forbes to Denver in a three-team deal for picks and Juancho Hernangomez. Perhaps they could make another trade that would take massive, immediate steps in giving the current roster a much-needed boost of talent?

The Detroit Pistons are rumored to have made Jerami Grant available in an absolutely ridiculous trade offer for Ben Simmons. Aside from Grant, the 76ers would also get Saddiq Bey and Kelly Olynyk. The Sixers rejected the trade, which is insane, but it does mean that the Pistons are open to moving on from their best player.

What Jerami Grant could offer the San Antonio Spurs

Jerami Grant has become a 20 point per game scorer in his two seasons in Detroit, and his defense has remained very solid. In terms of two-way players, he is one of the better ones in the league and would fit into the Spurs’ roster very well alongside Keldon Johnson and Jakob Poeltl.

He can help Poeltl on the defensive end down low and can score like a wing. In the early stages of his career, he came off the bench as a sparkplug to provide some defense and efficient scoring, but as a starter, he has become a fringe NBA All-Star. 

Grant has been tied to the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn Nets, and Washington Wizards in trade rumors, so if the Spurs could nab him, it would be one of the biggest splashes in franchise history. While Grant is undervalued by Detroit, the Spurs would still need to put together quite the package to get him. Here's what that might look like.

The Spurs take on a big contract and send White/Walker for Grant

The Pistons could use a secondary ball-handler with a veteran mentality to complement Cade Cunningham, and Derrick White would be that guy. Lonnie Walker and Hamidou Diallo would be a very explosive bench duo for Detroit to run 20 minutes a night. Keita Bates-Diop would be attractive for the Pistons simply because he is a good rebounder and the Pistons currently rank 28th in total rebounds.

The Spurs would receive Jerami Grant and Killian Hayes. Grant would be an immediate starter and would boost the quality of the lineup. Devin Vassell would become the starting shooting guard, and Joshua Primo would be the first guy off the bench.

Grant would take McDermott’s starting spot, but Doug could check in to knock down some threes when needed. Jock Landale and a healthy Zach Collins could rotate in and out for Poeltl and Grant, creating a much more consistent forward/center rotation.

The Pistons would throw in Killian Hayes, who would probably be flipped for a second-round pick or receive minimal minutes. Hayes has been disappointing since entering the league in 2020, and behind Primo, Jones, Murray, Vassell, and even Weiskamp, it’s clear the Spurs would simply not give him minutes. As a team better off financially, a big part of San Antonio's contribution in this trade would be taking on his $24 million in guaranteed money.

While the return is not perfect, Jerami Grant would immediately establish himself as the second-best layer on the team. He’s only 27 and on a team-friendly contract. He is out for the next four or five weeks with a torn thumb ligament, but with this season slipping away, there would be no rush on his return.

Come 2022-23 with a starting five of Murray, Vassell, Johnson, Grant, and Poeltl with Collins, Primo, Jock, and Jones off the bench alongside a lottery pick in there somewhere, and the Spurs could be back in contention very soon.