The Jerami Grant deal keeps paying off for Detroit.
What started as a forward-for-futures move has turned into a steady stream of useful pieces for the Pistons, and the latest one is Ebuka Okorie. Detroit used the 2026 second-round pick it got in the Grant trade to move up and select the 19-year-old guard, adding another cost-controlled piece to a roster that needs them.
Grant spent two productive seasons with the Pistons before the team sent him to the Portland Trail Blazers in a bold reset built around draft capital. Detroit got a protected 2025 first-round pick and second-rounders in 2022, 2025, and 2026 in return. That package has already produced Gabriele Procida, and Detroit also flipped the 2025 first-rounder in 2022 for Kemba Walker and the draft rights to Jalen Duren, who is now an All-NBA player.
Now Okorie is the newest result of that trade tree.
For a team with limited flexibility, that matters. Detroit has already added Isaiah Joe and Taurean Prince through trade, plus John Collins in a sign-and-trade, but shot creation remains a need.
That’s where Okorie comes in. He’s described as a dynamic scoring guard who can score at all three levels, and he gives the Pistons another potential answer in a backcourt that had no guard besides Cade Cunningham averaging even 10.0 points per game in 2025-26.
The financial picture only makes the need sharper. Cunningham is set to make upward of $50 million in each of the next four seasons.
Ausar Thompson, a 2025-26 Defensive Player of the Year finalist, will be a restricted free agent next summer and could be in line for a big raise from the $11,117,925 he’ll make in 2026-27. And Duren’s next deal is expected to come in above $30 million per season.
Detroit has to keep finding affordable talent wherever it can.
That’s why the Grant trade looks so valuable now. It gave the Pistons a chance to move up in the 2026 first round and land a rookie-scale player who fills a real need.
The Duren situation is still unresolved, and there’s no guarantee Okorie becomes an NBA difference-maker. Duren could also end up taking his qualifying offer and returning for one season before reaching unrestricted free agency in 2027.
But whatever happens next, the trade for Grant has already changed the shape of the franchise. Detroit has ended a five-year postseason drought and won its first playoff series in 18 seasons, with Duren playing a major role alongside Cunningham. And now the Pistons have added another young, inexpensive guard to a group that badly needed one, especially with Daniss Jenkins entering the final season of his current deal.
Four years later, the Grant trade still looks like the move that keeps on giving.
In Other News...
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The Pistons newly released schedule comes with a welcome wrinkle for fans around Michigan: far more of the games should be easy to find on TV. Detroit laid out its viewing options along with the slate for the upcoming season, and up to 68 games are set to air on free local broadcasts and NBC, a notable boost for anyone who has grown tired of chasing matchups across cable and streaming.
For the rest of the schedule, the usual mix of national and platform-specific coverage fills in the gaps, with games landing on ESPN, NBA League Pass, Amazon Prime and Peacock. The team also spelled out which dates will be nationally televised and which local stations will carry games in the Grand Rapids and Detroit markets, giving fans a clearer road map before the season gets going. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Face A Bigger Cade Cunningham Question Than Fans Wanted
The Pistons spent the summer trying to give Cade Cunningham more help by bringing in John Collins, but the bigger picture still points to a roster that needs another offensive push if it wants to climb in the Eastern Conference. Cunningham has become the focal point of everything Detroit does, and the front office now has to decide whether the current mix is enough or whether the trade deadline is the moment to add another real scoring threat around him.
Three names keep surfacing as possible answers in Norman Powell, Trey Murphy III and Tyler Herro, each offering a different kind of lift for a team that needs cleaner offense and more reliable perimeter production. None of those options comes cheaply, which is part of the dilemma for Detroit, but the Pistons are at the stage where standing still may be the riskier move if they want to turn Cunninghams growth into something more meaningful this season. [Read more 🡒]