OKC Thunder forward Jerami Grant proving vital to team success

After years of serving as a role player off the bench, OKC Thunder big, Jerami Grant has shown us how important he is to his team.

Once referred to as an athletic big with raw potential, Jerami Grant has shown why he belongs in the NBA. Drafted 39th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers, Grant struggled to find his stroke, shooting less than 50 percent in his time in Philly. At the beginning of the 2016 NBA season, the OKC Thunder decided to make a trade for Grant sending Philly Ersan Ilyasova and a future first-round draft pick.

For the totality of the 2016 season, Jerami Grant came off the bench behind rookie Domantas Sabonis. In 2017, Grant committed to making his mark. Despite coming off the bench behind veteran shooter Carmelo Anthony, Jerami Grant showed why he deserved to be in the starting rotation. His shooting percentage rocketed up to 53 percent while scoring 8.4 points-per-game.

Fast forward to this season. Carmelo’s tenure with the team was over and the starting job was up for grabs. The main candidates were Grant and Patrick Patterson, but many people believed Grant’s upside offered more.

After earning the starting position, Jerami Grant has proven his importance to the OKC Thunder. Not only has he upped his points-per-game to 13.2, but he is making a huge impact on defense. Averaging a career high in steals, along with 1.4 blocks-per-game, Jerami has cemented himself as an elite defender in OKC.

Along with his developed defensive skills, Jerami Grant has helped spread the floor by becoming a threat to shoot (and hit) from the perimeter. Here’s an example.

Through diligence to improve his fundamental skills and a commitment to growing the areas he lacked, Jerami Grant took charge of his own future.

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The resulting effect is he’s positioned himself as a vital piece of the OKC Thunder core. Moving forward, Grant’s growth is helping the team win and the opportunity to become the third priority behind Paul George and Russell Westbrook should be on his mind.Grant will get that opportunity over the stretch run with OKC facing the toughest strength of schedule.

With players like Westbrook and George, the Thunder don’t need more pure scorers, but having a defensive anchor with the ability to score when needed, such as Jerami Grant helps immensely. Ultimately, Grant has been brilliant at balancing the two sides of the hardwood providing energy and timely buckets.

The next step will be to gauge when one of PG or Russ are having a tough night and stepping up to fill in. If he succeeds in this regard his role on this team will undoubtedly grow.

For now, Grant is making Sam Presti’s decision to bring him back and for what now seems like a bargain one of the GM’s best decisions of the summer.