Lakers vs Nuggets: Introducing 3 key role players on Denver

Jerami Grant: OKC’s $39 million problem became Denver’s solution

The Oklahoma City Thunder saved $39 million in salary and luxury tax when the Denver Nuggets took Jerami Grant off their hands for this year’s first-round pick. Denver was lauded for acquiring  Grant for a late first-round pick. Grant lived up to the pundit’s hype: he saved the Nuggets season by shutting down Kawhi Leonard.

Grant was known for his endless highlight-reel plays in OKC. Now he is known in Denver as the glue guy who unglued Kawhi and the Clippers with his rock-solid defense.

His emergence was a bit unexpected. Grant was a costly backup to Millsap in the regular season, only having started 24 out of 71 games this season. But with starting small forward Will Barton still yet to return from injury, Grant moved from the 4 to the 3 in pseudo-jumbo starting lineups featuring him, Millsap, and Jokic.

The anti-Micro ball lineup works.

Grant as a small forward is actually capable of backing down opposing defenders. He perfectly reads this Clippers double team and fires a laser to Jamal Murray on the opposite corner. I urge each of you politely ignore the fact the Clippers inexplicably left Murray open in the first place, or that they double-teamed Grant 20 feet away from the basket.

Grant’s post-up game makes him a viable power forward, but his value in the starting lineup is his three-point shooting. He makes a third of his three-pointers. A bit down from his regular-season average. But his and Millsap’s three-point shooting prowess (37.5%) juices up the offense just enough to unleash the terrorizing Murray-Jokic pick-and-roll.

Even more terrorizing is Jokic running the offense at the top of the key, surrounded by four capable three-point shooters. Grant’s confidence on this shot is through the roof against the iconic Paul George, the artist formerly known as Playoff P.

Again, politely ignore Playoff P’s effort here. If he had tried, he would be called Play-On P.

Yes. These puns are horrible. Grant is not a horrible choice to guard LeBron James though. He is athletic and long enough to stay in front of LeBron. LeBron overpowered Houston wings Robert Covington and Eric Gordon in the second round. While Houston’s help defense was unhelpful, Grant’s teammates will help him guard LeBron’s punishing drives to the basket.

Grant will repay his teammates by being athletic enough to stay on LeBron when the Los Angeles Lakers’ offense turns into Jamal Murray’s man setting ball screens so LeBron can bulldoze Murray on his way to the basket. Grant is athletic enough to stay on LeBron so Murray does not have to switch onto him. As is the next guy I am about to cover, Gary Harris.