It’s pretty easy to take a pass at the Detroit Pistons over the past few seasons. Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose are both way past their prime. Their draft selections aren't really moving the needle for the club just yet.. Plus, trading Andre Drummond to Cleveland and letting Christian Wood walk away hasn’t done Motor City any good at all. But if there’s a takeaway one can have for the Pistons this season, it’s discovering how good Jerami Grant has been playing.
While most fans were in disbelief when Detroit signed the 6’8” forward to a three-year $60 million contract, it stands to reason that Grant has been providing excellent value for every dollar spent on him so far. Will the same thought be applied to his stock in the card market as well?
Who was Jerami Grant before his rise as Detroit’s newest star?
Jerami Grant entered the league as the 76ers’ 39th pick in the 2014 Draft from the University of Syracuse. He didn’t quite make a dent in his first year in the NBA by just averaging 6.3 points, three rebounds, 1.2 assists, and a block in 21.2 minutes per game. Grant’s rookie season ended with no bang at all as Philadelphia, in the midst of #TheProcess, finished with an 18-64 record during the 2014-15 season.
Grant continued playing for Philadelphia during its tumultuous Process era. It wasn’t until 2016 when he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a package of Ersan Ilyasova and a protected pick.
His time playing for the Thunder culminated during the 2018-19 season when Grant was given the starting Power Forward job. In turn, he contributed 13.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, an assist, and a block per game. He was solid, if unspectacular and seemed like your run-of-the-mill role player at that point. He was eventually traded again to the Denver Nuggets the next season for a 2020 first-round pick.
Jerami Grant’s promising season with the Denver Nuggets
Playing for a team with Nikola Jokic did wonders for Grant’s career. At this point, he already seemed firmly entrenched as a role player, after being traded multiple times. Even though he had to settle for a bench role behind Paul Millsap, Grant performed his job well.
This is quite evident when Denver shocked the whole world and triumphed over the Clippers in a thrilling Best of Seven series. In the final game of the said series, Grant outplayed Paul George by scoring more points against the established star while playing nine fewer minutes against him. The forward also showed impressive offensive flashes during last season’s Western Conference Finals against a LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers.
Leap to stardom with Pistons
While many reasonably dismissed Grant and labeled him as a journeyman role player, the Pistons saw him differently. During the offseason, he was signed to an expensive multi-year contract by Detroit. This move raised a lot of eyebrows, especially with the organization opting for Christian Wood to walk away as a free agent. That, and signing several centers that made everyone question the Pistons' offseason strategy.
The roster isn't exactly clicking to prove the naysayers wrong just yet. As of now, they’re in the bottom half of the league with a 5-16 record. But what surprised everyone is the leap Jerami Grant has taken to become Detroit’s number one option this year.
From averaging 12 points per game last season, Grant is now scoring 23.7 points. He’s dishing 2.9 assists, grabbing 5.8 boards, blocking 1.2 shots per contest. The Pistons starting small forward is also draining 40% of his 6.3 attempts from downtown. Furthermore, his box plus/minus score has spiked from last season’s -0.5 to an elite 3.8 with Detroit.
Thanks to his impressive campaign, Grant is now garnering a lot of hype heading into All-Star weekend with 134,487 votes under his name. He’s also one of the early front-runners to win the Most Improved Player for this season. His dynamic scoring ability and sudden emergence as a viable offensive threat has turned every head around twice over, breaking the mold as being just a role player.
Grant’s outlook in the card market
Back before the season started, Grant’s value in the card market was non-existent. Last November 18, 2020, his base Prizm rookie card was auctioned off for only a single bid of $0.99. Cards that go for a dollar generally represent a player as having virtually zero value.
That value has multiplied significantly, exponentially even, over the past few months. Grant’s base Prizm RC was auctioned last February 04, 2021, with a winning bid of $31.5 Meanwhile, the highest recorded price of the same card fetched $101 during an auction last January 10, 2021.
Sure, their values are nowhere near the prices of established stars in the league, like LeBron James or Steph Curry. Grant’s value isn’t even close to hot prospects, like Luka Doncic or Zion Williamson.
But while other stars have always touted high card values throughout their careers, Jerami Grant's cards rose from worthless to worthy of collecting in a matter of months.
The key factor here is he’s carving a role in Detroit as the Pistons’ top guy by putting up numbers on a nightly basis. Grant’s card value is poised to trend up, especially if the forward is voted into the All-Star Game, conferred with the Most Improved Player award, or both.
Grant's believers, both the Pistons and his card holders, were rewarded handsomely by the emerging stud. His rise from relative obscurity is just one example of why the NBA cards game is so exciting. You never know just who's going to ball out.
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