The Chicago Bulls received a ton of scrutiny when they paired DeMar DeRozan with Zach LaVine in the offseason, but they have been a remarkable tandem so far. Despite being two ball-dominant individuals, DeRozan and LaVine found a way to make it work along with their other supplementary parts in Nikola Vucevic, Alex Caruso and Lonzo Ball to name a few. However, the current crop of their roster seems to lack a versatile and stocky wing that could shoot threes and defend players like LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard.
Thus, it seems ideal for the Bulls to go all-in with this core and try to win a championship in the next few years. In the latest episode of the Lowe Post podcast, Zach Lowe raised the question to Jeff Van Gundy if he would trade Patrick Williams for Jerami Grant to fill the gaping hole in their forward position. There was a great back-and-forth debate on the possible trade, but with the suitors of Grant likely to increase before the trade deadline, Chicago must go all-in on Grant.
Here are three reasons why the Bulls should trade for Grant and spare no effort in doing so.
Jerami Grant Trade To Bulls
3. Versatile, athletic defender
Chicago fans are high on the potential of their young draftee in Patrick Williams, but it may still take a few seasons before he reaches the prime of his career. With that said, it will not be on the similar timeline of their main pieces in LaVine, DeRozan and Vucevic. Adding Grant to the fold is the perfect one because he does not need the ball on his hands for him to have a massive impact on the game.
Grant has that brilliant basketball IQ to constantly cut to the basket and do the dirty work as proven in his previous stint in the Denver Nuggets. The Bulls will have immense pressure because they will be paying five players over $20 million a year, but it will be all worth it if they reach the finals or even win a championship.
Additionally, Grant could switch on a quicker guard or a huge wing as he would adjust based on the matchup every night.
2. Scoring boost to complement DeRozan, LaVine
In any championship contending squad, there will be off nights for any superstar player in the playoffs. Shooting woes are inevitable, so that is where the depth of certain squads come into place. For instance, the recent championships of the Golden State Warriors would not have been possible with a subpar second unit. In his two seasons with the Detroit Pistons, Grant has proven that he has a multitude of moves to manufacture his own offense.
With more options at his disposal for head coach Billy Donovan, it gives him the chance to match up with the other talented teams like the Brooklyn Nets or Milwaukee Bucks. These organizations have legendary scorers on their squad, but the Bulls will not just fold in a seven-game series against these teams. Grant has a much-improved catch-and-shoot jump shot as well, which will be integral in the spacing for the Bulls.
1. Vast playoff experience, leadership initiative
As previously mentioned, Grant was in the previous iteration of the Nuggets wherein he was part of the teams that had a deep playoff run for a couple of years. From the four main players of Chicago, it is only DeRozan that has constantly advanced in the playoffs over the course of his career. Grant brings priceless experiences and learnings that he could impart to his possible teammates, which will be instrumental at that stage of the season.
Grant decided to become the leader of the Pistons franchise instead of staying in the Mile High City, wherein he has scored 22.3 and 20.1 points per game over the last two seasons. That was an arsenal of his game that was non-existent at the early juncture of his career, but he has shown that he has developed his repertoire already. These enormous improvements to his game would be better if it translated to constant victories for a contending organization.
As the continued growth of Grant is evident over the past two seasons, his talent should not be wasted in a rebuilding Detroit franchise. It looks like they are building around possibly franchise cornerstone Cade Cunningham. With Grant already entering his prime at 27 years of age, the Pistons must realize that they could give him another opportunity to be on a contending team and try winning a championship in his peak years.