Celtics want to trade for Jayson Tatum’s Olympian teammate: Report

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Getty Devin Booker #15 (left) and teammate Jerami Grant #9 of Team USA fight over Hamed Haddadi #15 of Team Iran for possession of a rebound.

For the second straight season, the Boston Celtics are believed to be aggressively looking for a talented third piece to play against the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. And for the second straight season, those desires appear to have prompted the Cs to knock on Pistons GM Troy Weaver’s door in hopes of luring Jerami Grant away from Motor City.

According to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, Boston is among a handful of clubs that have inquired about trading the 27-year-old forward, whom a team strategist called “the big prize of this deadline.” Other potential suitors who have shown interest in Grant include the Lakers, Trail Blazers, Knicks, Jazz, Wizards, Pacers, Timberwolves and Kings.

Detroit is said to be seeking two first-round picks or a first-round pick and a “high-potential young player” in exchange for Grant’s services.

Scholarship with tendency to return

Grant, who is in the second year of a three-year, $60 million deal, is averaging 20.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game this season for the Pistons. Sidelined since mid-December after undergoing surgery to repair the UCL in his right thumb, Grant was assigned to the G League’s Motor City Cruise on Jan. 17 to begin on-pitch work, according to James Edwards of The Athletic.

There is no set return date for Grant at this time. Though the team previously stated its plans to reassess its star forward’s status six weeks after his surgery, via Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix. In theory, that timeline could put him on track to return to Detroit’s lineup, or another team’s lineup, in late January or early February.

As noted above, the Celtics aggressively pursued a trade for Grant last season. According to Edwards, the then-Danny Ainge-led regime in Boston reportedly offered multiple first-round picks to the Pistons in hopes of acquiring Grant, though he did not prevail.

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Grant’s adjustment with the Celtics

While Grant may not be the takedown shooter many fans are looking at on Deadline, a 34.6% career shooter from beyond the arc, he is still highly versatile and arguably the most realistic top-level player. on the market this trading season. And one that could theoretically help take the Celtics from a .500 team to a borderline contender.

Of course, moving to Boston would mean moving into a third-star role behind the likes of Brown and Tatum for Grant, who not long ago dumped Denver because he didn’t want to be a secondary option. A change in the hierarchy could take some time for Grant to get used to. Perhaps the fact that he played alongside Tatum for Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics could help ease the transition.

Other than that, Grant isn’t nearly as young as the 25-and-under duo of Tatum and Brown. Still, set to turn 28 on March 12, he fits into the theoretical window of title contention the Celtics boast about as long as the two Blue Jays remain in town.

All that said, if Boston sees Grant as part of its immediate future, they may want to be a little more urgent in their pursuit or risk losing him to a conference rival, via Fischer:

Several league personnel see Washington as a favorite to land Grant. Hailing from the DC area, his father Harvey played for the franchise from 1988 to 1993 and again from 1996 to 1998. Wizards first-year head coach Wes Unseld Jr. also coached Grant as an assistant with the Nuggets.

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