Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant has no regrets about leaving the Nuggets and signing with the Pistons during his last dip into the free agency pool, he told Mike Singer of the Denver Post. Grant signed a three-year, $60MM deal with rebuilding Detroit even though Denver offered a similar contract. Grant, who was dealt to Portland prior to this season, wanted to have a bigger offensive role.
“I think I just grew as a player,” said Grant, who could become a free agent again at the end of this season. “I gave myself an opportunity to become who I am today. I think I’ve been this player, but there was a lot of work I needed to do. I think I gave myself room to grow.”
We have more from the Western Conference:
- The Nuggets continue to be subpar defensively despite their 16-10 record and coach Michael Malone says his team will never reach a championship level until it develops a defensive mentality, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes. “We can’t pick and choose when we want to defend,” Malone said. “That’s what’s going on right now a little bit too often.” The Nuggets are allowing 114.8 points per 100 possessions, ranking 26th in the NBA.
- Rockets rookie forward Jabari Smith said prior to the team’s game against Milwaukee on Sunday that he viewed his matchup with Giannis Antetokounmpo as a measuring stick, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “Looking at it like an opportunity to just learn, go out there and compete and measure yourself, see where you are, against some of the greatest in the world,” Smith said. “It’s fun. It’s challenging. It’s what I work for.” Houston won the game as Milwaukee’s superstar was held to 16 points. Smith had a poor shooting night but made three steals.
- Kings star guard De’Aaron Fox didn’t play against the Knicks on Sunday due to foot soreness, Tim Bontemps of ESPN tweets. Fox, who is averaging 22.8 PPG with a .507/.366/.826 shooting line, has missed two consecutive games during the team’s six-game road trip. He recently disclosed that he’s been dealing with right foot soreness for over a month.
Let fox rest through mlk day
That’s “MLK Day” champ
its actually STFU Day today
Overated jokeic
Relax you now have three months. Do you want all 12?
The Rockets have something special being built with this roster. They are buying into Coach Silas’ system and they all have great attitudes (That includes Kevin Porter Jr.). They have improved to a .500 team in their last 10 games, and have been in most of them. I think they are a play-in team next year.