Sixers player evaluation: Jerami Grant

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Over the next couple of weeks we will evaluate the Sixers' roster following the 18-64 season. Up next is Jerami Grant.

Position: Small forward/power forward
Status: Jerami Grant was selected No. 39 overall last spring. Unlike first-round picks, there is not a rookie salary scale for second-round selections. Grant agreed to a three-year contract with a team option for a fourth year. The first three years are guaranteed for a total of $1,729,938 million.

Signature game in 2014-15
On Jan. 21, Grant registered eight blocks in a loss to the Knicks. There were seven players this season who had games with eight blocks or more, and at 6-foot-8, Grant was the shortest to accomplish the feat.

He also had four points, two rebounds and just one turnover in his 25 minutes against New York.

Grant in 2014-15
Grant's rookie season was a pleasant surprise, especially after he missed the entire training camp and the first 15 regular-season games because of an ankle sprain.

Grant was persistent when he returned to action, and within a month's time he was a regular in Brett Brown's rotation.

In the open floor, Grant is exciting and explosive finishing at the rim, but his game grew beyond being just an athletic wingman.

On the season, he averaged 6.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.0 blocks and 21.2 minutes in 65 games. He shot 35.2 percent from the field and 31.4 percent from behind the arc. Grant's outside shooting was poor, then great, then poor again.

In December, Grant shot 21.4 percent from three-point range. In January and February combined, his percentage jumped to 44.2. But over the last two months of the season his three-point percentage dipped to 23.4.

Among rookies, Grant's minutes per game ranked 13th. His 68 blocks tied with Denver's Jusuf Nurkic for third behind Nerlens Noel and former Sixer K.J. McDaniels, and his 49 made three-pointers ranked 10th.

Prospectus
Grant began his rookie season as Luc Mbah a Moute's backup at the power forward position. However, late in the year when Brown experimented with Noel at the four, Grant slid to the starting small forward spot. He was a starter the final 10 games of the season.

If Grant continues to develop his outside shot, playing small forward is where he will get most of his minutes given the roster has Noel, Joel Embiid and eventually Dario Saric, who are all frontcourt players.

There could be times when Noel moves to the center position and Grant plays the four, providing Brown with a quick, athletic frontcourt.

Brown used that combination plenty this season. In a win over the Nuggets on March 25, Noel and Grant combined for nine of the team's 12 blocks.

Grant also impressed Brown with his leadership skills in the locker room and his excellent pedigree.

Jerami's father, Harvey Grant, was a rookie with Washington back in the 1988-89 season and averaged 5.6 points and 2.3 rebounds in 16.1 minutes per game.

The elder Grant went on to have an 11-year NBA career, and in three of those seasons he averaged 18 or more points.

On Jerami Grant
"He can defend multiple positions. He has shown the ability to drive and finish with authority with dunks. He can rebound and start a fast break with kick-aheads, finding the open man. Now he is showing he can pick and pop and hit threes. Defense and offense, his growth is rapid and right before all our eyes."

-Brett Brown on Feb. 3

"I think I had a decent season. I think I shot the ball decent. I had a stretch where I shot it very well and then I had a stretch where I shot it poorly. I want to work on my consistency. I also want to work on my ball handling and my strength.

“I am excited for the summer league. I am excited to play with Jo [Embiid] this summer. I am excited to play with the new person, whoever we get in the draft. I am excited for a lot of things because going forward I just think we are going to be a much better team.”

-Jerami Grant on April 15

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