Getty Detroit Pistons forward Jerami Grant drives past Talen Horton-Tucker during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Things are happening in La La land where the Los Angeles Lakers just completed a move to open up a roster spot by dealing veteran floor general Rajon Rondo. Now, the team must decide whether to give it to hardship standout Stanley Johnson, the recently un-retired Darren Collison or someone else.
A decision must also be made on starting wing Avery Bradley, whose contract is set to become guaranteed on January 7.
Whatever happens with regard to those players, GM Rob Pelinka likely has bigger fish to fry ahead of the NBA‘s February 10 trade deadline. As it stands, the Lakers currently find themselves in the play-in range with the West’s eighth-best record at 19-19 for the year — a far cry from the title contention that some expected entering the campaign.
To that end, ESPN’s Zach Lowe may have an idea about what the team is hoping to accomplish on the trade market.
Lowe Speaks out on the Push for Jerami Grant
During a recent episode of The Lowe Post podcast, the league insider revealed that he has heard rumblings of the Lakers making a push for a certain younger, multi-positional, two-way talent; in other words, the antithesis of the kind of players the team is rolling out now.
That player is Jerami Grant of the Detroit Pistons.
“I keep reading and hearing and hearing murmurs about how the Lakers are gonna try to get Jerami Grant with Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn and a 2028 first-round pick, which is the one they can trade.”
Although the Lakers are seemingly limited in their trade prospects, Lowe noted that the aforementioned package would actually be a fairly significant return for Grant.
“Now look, people pooh-pooh the value of a Lakers 2028 first-round pick because everyone assumes the Lakers will always be good. The Lakers just came out of a five-year morass of awfulness, 2028 is a long time away from now. LeBron will be 40 or whatever he’ll be, even older than that, 42 or something. AD, who knows?”
Following that logic, Lowe believes that such a package could be enough to beat out the competition for Grant’s services.
“I think that pick, depending on the protections, has more value than people are giving it credit for,” Lowe said. “But you have to think Talen Horton-Tucker is an All-Star to make that the winning bid for the Pistons in whatever Jerami Grant sweepstakes exists.”
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Grant’s Star Turn Continues in Detroit
As it stands, Grant is in the midst of a recovery process after undergoing surgery to repair the UCL ligament on his right thumb. Before he got hurt, though, his evolution from being a useful hand in Denver to achieving star status with the Pistons was still in full effect.
Through 24 games this season, Grant has averaged 20.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals per contest. His current player efficiency rating (PER) of 16.8 outpaces that of players like Khris Middleton, CJ McCollum, Draymond Green and Russell Westbrook.
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