A Jeremi Grant trade doesn’t make sense for the Timberwolves

Yes, the Minnesota Timberwolves could stand to upgrade the roster. But acquiring Detroit Pistons forward Jerami Grant is likely not the answer.

A Jeremi Grant trade doesn’t make sense for the Timberwolves

Detroit Pistons Forward Jerami Grant is one of the most sought-after players of this season’s upcoming trade deadline.

At 6-foot-8, Grant has averaged 21.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game over the last two seasons, including a modest 34.4 percent mark from three.

This would seemingly be appealing for a Wolves team that needs size and offensive support. However, it’s also plausible that Grant would not be a good fit for this Timberwolves team as currently constructed.

First off, Grant has been a high-usage player on a bad Detroit team over the past two seasons; in that span, he has averaged 16.8 field goal attempts per game.

To put that in perspective, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards, the Wolves two highest-usage players, averaged 17.2 and 17.4 field goal attempts respectively in that same span. Chris Finch has previously emphasized the need for low-usage, high-efficiency players to support their core of KAT, Ant, and D’Angelo Russell, and adding another high-usage scorer could seriously hurt the fluidity of the team’s offense.

Second, Grant will earn over $20 million both this season and next season, making him an unrestricted free agent in 2023.

The Wolves will already have big financial commitments to make in the coming years with Towns eligible for an extension this offseason, Russell’s contract expiring in 2023, and Edwards likely to sign his rookie extension soon after that. Assuming the Wolves want to keep Edwards, Russell, and Towns going forward, adding Grant to the contract mix could make things far more complicated for the Wolves front office, and with Grant’s contract expiring after next season, the Wolves likely don’t want to give up significant assets for a player that may not stay long term.

Lastly, as previously mentioned, Grant is set to be one of the most sought-after trade targets at the deadline, meaning there will be significant competition to acquire him in the trade market.

The same concern arises with a trade for players like Myles Turner — do the Wolves really want to overpay for a player that may only stay for a season and a half? Grant’s deal expires after next season, and if he walks away after Minnesota overpays in a trade for him, then the trade would make no sense.

The Wolves have a handful tradable assets and it would be reasonable to see them as a busy team at the trade deadline, but Jerami Grant is just too big of a risk.

He’s high usage and has a big contract for a team like the Timberwolves that has big financial commitments, and the team that gets Grant will likely have to overpay. The Wolves should focus their trade assets elsewhere at this year’s trade deadline.