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Euan Leith profiles Denver Nuggets forward Jerami Grant as a potential fantasy basketball draft sleeper for the 2019-20 NBA season.
While it seemed that the sky was falling for half of the contenders in the Western Conference this offseason, the Denver Nuggets remained steady with a couple of offseason moves.
One of them was resigning Jamal Murray to a massive extension, but the other was more under the radar as they traded for Jerami Grant from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Grant is coming off a career year where he posted career-highs last season in minutes per game, points, rebounds and steals. Now he joins a Denver team that will have its eyes set on bigger goals than simply making the playoffs and that will allow Grant to flourish in the Mile High City.
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2019-20 Fantasy Outlook - Jerami Grant
Last season, Grant found himself playing 32.6 minutes per game for a Thunder team that was desperate to stay in playoff contention down the home stretch. Now he finds himself on a Nuggets team that is very deep and will use it's rotation a lot over the season to give their Big Three (Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Paul Millsap) a lot of rest when the time calls for it.
The Nuggets have one of the better, if not the best, depth charts in the NBA at the forward position. Will Barton, Paul Millsap, Mason Plumlee, Juancho Hernangomez, Torrey Craig and Jarred Vanderbilt will all be competing with Grant for minutes at the Small Forward and Power Forward positions over the course of this season. Not to mention the unicorn, Michael Porter Jr. ready to throw himself into the mix.
What sets Grant apart from his teammates is his versatility. He played several games last year at the two, three and four positions. His ability to slot in at several positions should earn him instant minutes in Mike Malone's offensive and defensive schemes.
What also makes Grant a great pick in the double-digit rounds of your fantasy basketball drafts is that he is playing with one of the best passing centers in recent NBA memory. Jokic loves finding his teammates in transition and spot-up opportunities. With the steps he has taken as an offensive player, teams will begin to gameplan around him and leave his teammates, like Grant, with better looks at the basket. This can only help Grant who shot 49.7 percent from the field last season and 39.2 percent from behind the arc.
There aren't many players in the later rounds that can give you steady ratios in FG%, 3P% and toss in some blocks and steals, but Jerami Grant is one of them and makes for an excellent sleeper heading into your drafts. Grant won't blow you away in any category, but his overall contributions will make him a worthy addition to your fantasy roster this season. He had 65 games with at least 10 points last season, 42 games with five or more rebounds, 37 games with at least one steal, and 56 games with at least one block.
