Well, there it is. After months of speculation, the Detroit Pistons have finally traded veteran forward Jerami Grant to the Portland Trail Blazers for a first-round pick.
The problem? It's not the pick fans were hoping for. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Detroit Pistons will receive a first-round pick in 2025 for Jerami Grant from Portland via Milwaukee. The selection is also top 1-4 protected.
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The Detroit Pistons trade Jerami Grant to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Also, in the deal, the Detroit Pistons swap second-round picks, securing pick no. 36 for no. 46 in Thursday's draft. Portland will also send a 2025 second-rounder plus the ‘most-favorable' 2026 second-round pick between Portland and New Orleans to Detroit in 2026.
Detroit swaps 2022 second-round picks — getting 36 for 46 — with Portland, too. Denver gets a 2025 second-round pick back from Portland, and Portland sends the most favorable 2026 second-round pick between Portland and New Orleans to Detroit, sources said. https://t.co/c8M8TlEgoY
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 22, 2022
Portland star Damian Lillard and Grant are friends. Lillard was a big proponent of Grant being added to Team USA at the Olympics, and this is clearly a move by the Blazers to keep their superstar happy; plus, Portland is in ‘win-now' mode.
It's not precisely the haul Pistons fans had hoped Grant would garner, especially with all of the recent talk about Portland perhaps flipping the no. 7 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft to land Jerami Grant.
Grant played in 47 games for the Pistons last season, averaging 19.2 points, 4.1 boards, and 2.4 assists per game. He also shot a mere 42.6% from the field and 35.8% from beyond the arc.
Although the return appears a bit underwhelming, the Detroit Pistons now have $43 million in available cap space to spend in free agency.
