Lakers rumors: 3 Jerami Grant trades that beat LA’s best possible offer

PORTLAND, OREGON - NOVEMBER 30: Jerami Grant #9 of the Detroit Pistons posts up against CJ McCollum #3 of the Portland Trail Blazers during the first quarter at Moda Center on November 30, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. 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. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OREGON - NOVEMBER 30: Jerami Grant #9 of the Detroit Pistons posts up against CJ McCollum #3 of the Portland Trail Blazers during the first quarter at Moda Center on November 30, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. 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. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
3 of 4
(Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers

A Washington Wizards trade for Jerami Grant:

Kyle Kuzma gets traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Washington Wizards in the Russell Westbrook trade and we still cannot talk about Kyle Kuzma trades here at Lake Show Life! The man follows us around like he is our shadow!

In all honesty, this might seem like a crazy idea for the Pistons if you have seen what Kuzma has done recently. Kuzma is on a bit of a heater for the Pistons right now and that has some NBA pundits talking about how the Lakers should regret moving on from him.

Yes, the Lakers should regret the Russell Westbrook trade, but the team is not missing all that much in Kuzma. Sure, he is hot right now, but his overall season has been more of the same that we were used to seeing in LA.

Kuzma is averaging 15.3 points per game on 44.3% shooting (32.4% from three) with 8.7 rebounds per game. His Box Plus/Minus is -0.7, which is actually worse than it was last season.

The Wizards would be smart to capitalize on Kuzma’s current trade value as it is probably at an all-time high. Grant is simply a better version of Kyle Kuzma and Washington would be improving, although they would have to trade one of their young forwards to make it happen in sharpshooter Corey Kispert (who does not have a big role in the rotation anyway).

This is absolutely better than the Lakers trade as the Pistons would get two young assets and a top-10 protected pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. Yes, when you dig a bit deeper in Kyle Kuzma you see numbers that are not that impressive, but his trade value is going up and he would give the Pistons a younger version of Grant that they would hope to mold as well a recent first-round pick in Kispert.