The NBA season has a maximum of five games left, and with the season winding down offseason rumors are heating up. The Atlanta Hawks are expected to be big players not only in free agency, but in some potential off-season trades as well. The latest trade rumor the Hawks have been linked to is for Detroit Pistons power forward Jerami Grant, as NBA correspondent Marc Stein first reported Monday afternoon.
At 28 Grant is a very good two-way player who averaged 19 points and 4 rebounds for the Pistons last season and finished the 2021-22 season with a 114.3 defensive rating according to StatMuse. That number would’ve ranked towards the very top in the association this year, but injuries to Grant’s thumb and calf this season only allowed the nine-year veteran out of Syracuse to play 1,500 minutes in 47 games this season.
While Grant would be a great addition for the Atlanta Hawks, adding him alone would not make the Hawks the championship contender they are trying to be. Atlanta Hawks beat reporter for FanNation’s AllHawks.com, a Sports Illustrated channel, Pat Benson, joined The Jon Chuckery Show Tuesday Night to discuss what trading for Jerami Grant would entail for the Atlanta Hawks.
First and foremost Jon and Pat talked about Jerami Grant’s contract situation, and how that could affect the Hawks decision to pursue him. Grant has just one-year left on his three-year $60 million dollar deal that he signed in 2020 with the Detroit Pistons, that means after the upcoming 2022-23 season Jerami Grant will be an unrestricted free agent unless he is signed to an extension. Basically, the Hawks would have to re-sign Grant after next year unless they are okay with him being a one-year rental, so not only on top of having to trade assets for him, the Hawks would have to pay him after only having him on the team for just a season.
Pat talked about this very matter saying “It’s a tough proposition, and nobody wants change just for change's sake, but they’ve got to make some changes, obviously this year showed us that.” Pat continued by saying “Looking at their current salary cap the only way their going to be able to do it is through making trades, so Travis Schlenk he has his work cut out for him, and he’s either going to be paying somebody like Jerami Grant if he brings him in, or you know don’t forget De’Andre Hunter is going to be due for a pay day soon.”
Also, the other thing to think about is how much better does Jerami Grant make the Hawks? It’s hard to say because you’re not sure what the Hawks would have to give up to get him, but while Jerami Grant is a really good player he has yet to be an All-Star in his nine year career, and I think every Hawks fan agrees that the Hawks need a second All-Star next to Trae Young.
Pat likes the idea of adding Jerami Grant to the team, but also believes the Hawks need a second All-Star as well, and explains that Grant wouldn’t be enough alone to turn the Hawks into serious title contenders saying “I think Jerami Grant, going back to Grant, he’d be great but again we need a second All-Star.”
Between having to give up assets to get him, then pay him, and still have to find another All-Star caliber player to add to the team, Jerami Grant may end up costing too much to be in an Atlanta Hawks uniform next season. However, this isn’t the first time the Hawks and Jerami Grant have been linked in trade rumors, as reports circulated during this year’s All-Star break and last offseason that the Hawks could make a move for Grant.
If the report is true this time around then this would be the first of what could be many moves for the Atlanta Hawks this offseason, but the question is, is it the right move?