Why the Pistons replaced Jerami Grant in Portland and who Detroit could target next

Troy Weaver’s season is here.

Pistons’ chief manager has been driving and working since he became chief in Detroit in 2020. He completely changed the list in less than two years, completely freeing it from any player who was here at the time of the inheritance.

On Wednesday, just over 24 hours before the 2022 NBA draft, Weaver changed his first major contract as headquarters for Detroit.

Sources speak The Athletic The Pistons have switched to a first-round selection of veteran striker Jerami Grant to Portland in 2025 via Milwaukee. Detroit will also trade option 46 in Trailblazers’ 36th option on Thursday, while regaining its second-round 2025 option, which belonged to Portland, sources said. Finally, in 2026, the Pistons will have a second round of the Trail Blazers and Pelicans.

This deal opens up a ton of Ay space for the Pistons. (See what I did there?) Before the shift, Detroit started the season with about $ 30 million, which was among the leaders. After the deal, Pistons will have approximately $ 43 million at its disposal. According to sources, Detroit is expected to catch Phoenix Suns grandmother and the first Deandre Ayton in 2018 in the open market. If Ayton stays in Phoenix or lands elsewhere, the Pistons can also look to the trading block to take advantage of that cap.

However, Detroit does not have to use the entire cap collected during this off-season. It is possible that the Pistons are sitting still, making bad contracts and accumulating more assets. The key here is flexibility that the organization has not had in recent years. Blake Griffin’s dead money is out of the book, and Detroit has several intriguing young players, highlighted by last year’s first issue of Cade Cunningham, and has several opportunities to build a relevant product in Motor City.

Now to the return. It was widely expected and announced that Grant would bring back at least a lottery-level selection in the deal. Obviously, this did not happen here, and according to sources, this deal is the best offer Pistons has received for Grant, even if it dates from the February trade deadline. Other possible transactions were discussed by source before the trading deadline and during this off-season. But when it comes to specific offers, it was the best Detroit to receive Grant services that is eligible for renewal this summer.

With a day to go until the 2022 draft, Grant’s trading seems to signal that Keowan Murray of Iowa will be seriously considered for Detroit’s fifth option, if available. However, Purdue’s Jaden Ivey and Arizona Bennedict Mathurin remain in the game. It is also possible that if the Pistons were able to serve Ayton this season, third-year giant Isaiah Stewart or third-year striker Saddiq Bey could fill the gap in the power striker. Again, Detroit has created several opportunities to move forward.

It’s always hard to predict Weaver’s next move, but the point is that the Pistons won’t do anything dramatic on the trade front in the next 24 hours. However, it is possible that Detroit, given the plethora of space there, could move back into the late lottery if a player, such as Jalen Duren of Memphis, drops out of the top 10. According to reports, Charlotte wants to move. either choose No. 13 or No. 15 if the team agrees to accept Gordon Hayward’s contract. The Pistons have the means to make such a deal if they so wish.

Apparently, trading at the best age veteran Grant signals that the Pistons will continue to recover more slowly. That may not be the case. Adding someone to Ayton will make Detroit more competitive in the short term. In addition, it requires reversing the angle to have an upper limit to trade against a proven player.

For the first time in a long time, the Pistons has several streets that can be used to build something important. Restoring flexibility and gaining intriguing prospects through draft and trade were two of Weaver’s goals at the beginning of his tenure. In less than three years, the Director-General has done both.

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