Jerami Grant

Jerami Grant
Jerami Grant
Born	March 12, 1994 (age 32); United States
Occupation	Professional basketball player
Years active	2014–present
Known for	Playing in the NBA for Philadelphia 76ers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Portland Trail Blazers; 2020 Olympic gold medalist

Houston Jerami Grant ( ; born March 12, 1994) is a professional basketball athlete from the United States currently playing for the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He competed at the collegiate level with the Syracuse Orange before being chosen by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the 2014 NBA draft. Grant’s NBA journey has also included stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, and Detroit Pistons. He earned a gold medal as part of the 2020 U.S. Olympic squad.

High school career

During his senior year at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, Grant averaged 12.5 points across 23 contests in the 2011–12 season.

Ranked as a four-star prospect by ESPN.com, he was positioned as the 11th best power forward and ranked 37th among all players nationally in 2012.

College career

While playing for Syracuse, Grant posted averages of 12.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.4 assists over 31.4 minutes per game during the 2013–14 campaign, shooting at a rate of 49.6% from the field. He reached double figures in scoring in 24 out of 32 games and earned an All-ACC Honorable Mention in 2014. In April of that year, he declared for the NBA draft, opting to leave college with two years of eligibility remaining. Throughout his college tenure, he transitioned from playing guard to small forward.

Philadelphia 76ers (2014–2016)

Selected with the 39th overall pick in the second round of the 2014 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers on June 26, 2014, Grant participated in their 2014 NBA Summer League roster. He inked a four-year deal on September 29, which included two guaranteed seasons. On January 21, 2015, he blocked eight shots in a single game—the highest total by a Sixers player since 2007 and the most by a rookie since 1994. On February 2, he posted a season-best performance with 18 points and seven rebounds against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Returning for the 2015 NBA Summer League, Grant recorded his first career double-double on November 11 with 12 points and 10 rebounds during a loss to the Toronto Raptors. On December 30, he achieved what was then a personal best with 16 points, alongside 11 rebounds and five blocks, contributing to a victory over the Sacramento Kings.

Oklahoma City Thunder (2016–2019)

Grant was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder on November 1, 2016, in exchange for Ersan İlyasova and a protected draft selection. He made his debut on November 2, tallying six points, two rebounds, and two blocks in an 85–83 win against the Los Angeles Clippers. He reached a season-high of 15 points on December 19 during a narrow loss to the Atlanta Hawks, matching this scoring output again on February 1, 2017, in a defeat against the Chicago Bulls.

On October 31, 2017, coming off the bench, Grant scored a career-high at that time of 17 points in a commanding 110–91 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, marking his highest scoring effort since April of the previous year. He secured a contract extension with Oklahoma City on July 7, 2018. On January 10, 2019, he set new career highs with 25 points and 12 rebounds during a double-overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Subsequently, he surpassed this mark by scoring 27 points on March 18 facing the Miami Heat, followed by another personal record of 28 points on April 10 in a win against the Bucks.

Denver Nuggets (2019–2020)

Grant was traded to the Denver Nuggets on July 8, 2019, in exchange for a 2020 first-round draft pick.

On February 25, 2020, he achieved a then personal best of 29 points during a 115–98 victory over the Detroit Pistons. In the decisive Game 7 against the favored Clippers on September 15, 2020, Grant outperformed Paul George, scoring 14 points to George's 10 while logging nine fewer minutes. Despite this, he encountered difficulties facing LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the Western Conference Finals, as the Nuggets were eliminated in five games by the Los Angeles Lakers. Grant contributed 26 points in Denver's Game 3 win and posted playoff averages of 11.6 points and 3.3 rebounds.

Detroit Pistons (2020–2022)

Grant inked a three-year deal worth $60 million with the Detroit Pistons on November 22, 2020, facilitated through a sign-and-trade arrangement with the Denver Nuggets. The Pistons also secured draft rights to second-round pick Nikola Radičević from the 2015 NBA draft as part of the transaction, which included cash considerations. On February 17, 2021, Grant recorded a then career-high of 43 points in a narrow 105–102 defeat against the Chicago Bulls. He concluded that season as a finalist for the NBA Most Improved Player Award, boasting career-best scoring averages.

During a December 10, 2021 game versus the New Orleans Pelicans, Grant sustained an injury to his right thumb. He underwent surgery on December 16 to repair the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), which sidelined him for at least six weeks. Later, on March 28, 2022, a calf strain forced him to miss the remainder of that season.

Portland Trail Blazers (2022–present)

On July 6, 2022, Grant was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers along with draft rights to Ismaël Kamagate, in return for a protected first-round pick in 2025 (via Milwaukee), draft rights to Gabriele Procida, plus two future second-round selections. On October 23, he scored 16 points including a decisive layup that secured a 106–104 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. On November 4, Grant tallied 30 points and hit a game-winning jumper in a tight 108–106 victory against the Phoenix Suns. Later that month, on November 25, he set a new career high by scoring 44 points during a thrilling overtime win over the New York Knicks, finishing at 132–129.

Grant renewed his contract with Portland on July 9, 2023. On February 8, 2024, he surpassed his previous scoring mark by posting a career-high of 49 points despite a 128–122 loss to the Detroit Pistons.

National team career

Grant was a member of the 2020 U.S. Olympic team that captured gold at the Tokyo Games on June 28, 2021.

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Philadelphia | 65 || 11 || 21.2 || .352 || .228 || .591 || 3.0 || 1.2 || .6 || 1.0 || 6.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Philadelphia | 77 || 52 || 26.8 || .419 || .240 || .658 ||4.7||1.8|| .7||1.6||9.7 |- | style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2| | style="text-align:left;"|Philadelphia |2||0||20.6||.353||.000||.500||3.5||0.0||0.0||2.0||8.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City |78||4||19.1||.469||.377||.619||2.6||0.6||0.4||1.0||5.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City |81||1||20.3||.535||.291||.675||3.9||0.7||0.4||1.0||8.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City |80||77||32.7||.497||.392||.710||5.2||1.0||0.8||1.3||13.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Denver |71||24||26.6||.478||.389||.750||3.5||1.2||0.7||0.8||12.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Detroit |54||54||33.9||.429||.350||.845||4.6|||2.8|||0.6|||1.1|||22.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Detroit |47|||47|||31.9||| .426||| .358||| .838|||4.1|||2.4|||0.9|||1.0|||19.2 |- |- | style="text-align:left;" | | style="text-align:left;" |Portland |63|||63|||35.6||| .475||| .401||| .813|||4.5|||2.4|||0..8|||0..8|||20..5 |- |- | style="text-align:left;" | | style="text-align:left;" |Portland |54|||54|||33..9||| .451||| .402||| .817|||3..5|||2..8||||21 |- |- |style="text-align:left"| |- |style="text-align:left"|2024–25 Portland Trail Blazers season |- |47 |- |47 |- |32..4 |- |,.373 |- |,.365 |- |,.849 |- |3..5 |- |2..1 |- |,.9 |- |1..0 |- |14..4 |- class="sortbottom" |- |style="text-align:center" colspan= "2" Career |- |719 |- |434 |- |27..9 |- |,.449 |- |,.364 |- |,.753 |- |3..9 |- |1..6 |- |,.7 |- |1..0 |- |13..1

Playoff Performance

|{ -| style= "text-align: left"| 2017 NBA playoffs| style= "text-align: left"| 2016–17 Oklahoma City Thunder season| 5|| 0|| 22.2|| .613|| 333|| 857|| 38|| 08|| 02|| 04|| 92 |} |{ -| style= "text-align: left"| 2018 NBA playoffs| style= "text-align: left"| 2017–18 Oklahoma City Thunder season| 6|| 0|| 22.2|| 514|| 250|| 455|| 33|| 10|| .7|| 05|| 72 |} |{ -| style= "text-align: left"| 2019 NBA playoffs| style= "text-align: left"| 2018–19 Oklahoma City Thunder season| 5|| 5|| .35.2|| 500|| .450|| 692|| .56|| 08|| 06|| .20|| .116 |} |{ -| style= "text-align: left"| 2020 NBA playoffs| style= "text-align: left"| 2019–20 Denver Nuggets season| 19 || 16 || 34.4 || 406 || 326 || .889 || 33 || .13 || 06 || 08 || .116 |} |- class= "sortbottom" |{ -| style= "text-align:center" colspan= "2"|Career Totals |{ 35 || 21 || 30.7 || 456 || 341 || 800 || 37 || 11 || 05 || 09 || 10.5

College Career

|- | style="text-align:left;"|2012–13 | style="text-align:left;"|Syracuse | 40 || 9 || 14.3 || .462 || .400 || .562 || 3.0 || .5 || .4 || .5 || 3.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"|2013–14 | style="text-align:left;"|Syracuse | 32 || 20 || 31.4 || .496 || .000 || .674 || 6.8 || 1.4 || .8 || .6 || 12.1 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Overall College Stats | 72 || 29 || 21.9 || .486 || .300 || .641 || 4.7 || .9 || .6 || .5 || 7.5

Personal Background

Grant is the son of Beverly and former NBA athlete Harvey Grant, with three siblings: Jerai, Jerian, and Jaelin. His uncle, Horace Grant, who earned four NBA championships playing for the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, competed collegiately at Clemson Tigers men's basketball. Among his brothers, Jerai and Jerian have pursued professional basketball careers; Jerian currently plays for Panathinaikos in the Greek Basketball League and the EuroLeague. In May 2024, Grant broadened his professional scope by acquiring a minority ownership stake in his hometown Major League Soccer franchise, D.C. United.

External links