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NBA Trade Grades: Jerami Grant deal gives Denver Nuggets enough depth for NBA Finals run

ByMichael Walton|
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK- FEBRUARY 7: Jerami Grant #9 of the Oklahoma City Thunder prepares to shoot a free-throw against the Memphis Grizzlies on February 7, 2019 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK- FEBRUARY 7: Jerami Grant #9 of the Oklahoma City Thunder prepares to shoot a free-throw against the Memphis Grizzlies on February 7, 2019 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Denver Nuggets acquired Jerami Grant for a 2020 first-round pick on Monday, bolstering their depth for a potential NBA Finals run.

We wrote a piece recently at Nugg Love outlining how Denver Nuggets President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly wasn’t afraid to compete with the rest of the league using stability, rather than hunting for major free agent acquisitions. The bigger point was that while the rest of the league is making big acquisitions that weaken their depth, Connelly has bolstered the Nuggets bench and Monday’s Jerami Grant greatly strengthens their case to be a legit NBA Finals contender.

Grade: A+

Jerami Grant came into the league with the Philadelphia 76ers but has been an integral part of three-straight top-10 defenses (since his age 22-year old season) per Cleaning The Glass ($). Grant—at 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-3 wingspan—has always been an awesome defensive player.

His block rate was 1.9 percent in the 2018-19 season, good for the 63rd percentile among bigs. He has posted a block rate in the 94th or greater percentile three times and Cleaning The Glass is classifying him as a big despite the fact that he played 31 percent of his minutes at small forward throughout his career. This a good thing, showing just how much Grant unlocks new lineup combinations for Nuggets head coach Mike Malone.

The biggest part of the Nuggets transformation from a near-playoff team to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference was their solid defense.

The Nuggets posted the 11th best defensive efficiency in the league in the 2018-19 season per Cleaning The Glass, with their ability to limit their opponents to one-possession—8th in opponents offensive rebound rate—being their greatest strength. Grant will fit right in after posting a 3 percent shooting foul percentage, meaning he succeeds at defending without fouling.

One thing Malone will love is that Jerami Grant has a combination of length and speed that make him an ideal pick-and-roll defender. He is not the strongest rebounder but the fact that he can help cover any lapses in pick-and-roll defense from Nikola Jokic (and Mason Plumlee) will make him a coach and fan favorite.

Grant’s ability to fly in from the weakside for blocks and guard some of the league’s best perimeter players one-on-one for stretches makes him the perfect defensive Swiss Army knife.

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When Paul Millsap comes out of games, the Nuggets can replace him with a younger player—Jerami Grant is 25-years old—with a similar skill set.

Jerami Grant shares many similarities with Millsap in terms of where his shots come from. Grant, just like Millsap, takes many of his shots at the front of the rim or above the break. But unlike Millsap, corner 3-point shots make up a large portion—17 percent to be exact—of Grant’s shot profile. Grant knocked down 40 percent of corner 3s in 2018-19 and getting looks off of feeds from Jokic (36.2 percent assist rate), Jamal Murray (22 percent assist rate) and Monte Morris (22.2 percent assist rate) will afford him some of the cleaner 3-point shots of his career.

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The fact that Jerami Grant has improved to the point where he shot 39.2 percent from 3-point range last season is so huge because he has always been a vertical threat on offense.

Grant is joining a Denver Nuggets team that is peaking, as he does the same. Last season Grant played 176 postseason minutes, posting a +11 Net Rating per Basketball-Reference. He was a top-20 small forward in the regular season in defensive RPM per ESPN.com.

If you use NBA.com’s Plus/Minus rating, Grant was Oklahoma City’s fourth-best player and he certainly played like one of the Thunder’s best players in their first-round series loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, in which Grant averaged 11.6 points per game, 5.6 rebounds and 2 blocks per game while shooting 45 percent from the 3-point line (4 attempts per game).

Jerami Grant will fit right in with the Denver Nuggets. He gives them insurance in case of any injuries in the frontcourt, makes their bench perhaps the best in the NBA and perhaps most important is the fact that he gives Denver a player who can capably be a long-term fit next to Jokic once Millsap is out of the picture.

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