Revisiting OKC Thunder offseason and grading every move to date
By Aidan E
Loss of young rising talent:
One of OKC’s best trade assets left, it only made sense that once the Paul George deal was done that opposing teams would start calling the Thunder about forward Jerami Grant.
At 25 years old, Grant had the best season of his career in 2018-2019. Upping his scoring by over 5 points a game, his 3-point percentage by 10 percent and free throw percentage by nearly 30 percent, you can see the current trajectory that Grant is on. He was arguably OKC’s third-best player last season and is on a great contract ($9 million per year).
Ultimately the Thunder ended up trading him to the division rival Denver Nuggets for a first-round pick next season. This pick will most likely wind up in the 24-30 range as I expect the Nuggets to be one of the top teams in the league next season.
Related Story. Lightning Report: Jerami Grant’s breakout season. light
Grant is only under contract for one more year however as he has a player option in 2021 which he most likely will decline in order to get more money. But if I were OKC I wouldn’t mind shelling out the extra money to have kept Grant nears his prime (27 in 2021, 28 in 2022) when OKC is contending for a playoff spot again (hopefully).
While I understand Presti’s decision to trade him (get additional picks, shed salary) I wouldn’t have minded seeing Grant stick around for many more years in a Thunder uniform, especially if all you got in return was a late first-round pick.