Jerami Grant can be a crucial piece of Sixers’ success

T IS IMPORTANT to remember that Sam Hinkie isn't on detention because he drafted and traded poorly; to be fair, Hinkie's accumulation of young talent and draft picks has been masterful. Rather, Hinkie is in GM timeout because he failed to balance youth with age.

It is important to remember, too, that the talent of these youths is tantalizing. Here, Jahlil Okafor moves his feet on defense, trying to train them to be as effective as they are on offense; there, wiry defender Nerlens Noel unwinds his serpentine shooting stroke, again and again; over in the corner, Joel Embiid shoots 20-foot jumpers off his one good foot. They are three top-of-the-draft stars through which the Sixers' constellation is forming.

It is important to remember that they are not the only bright spots.

Review this analytic: In their four wins, Noel has been plus-1, minus-6, plus-11 and minus-3. Okafor played in three of the wins and went plus-13, minus-6, minus-2. Only the third member of the frontcourt wound up entirely on the good side of the ledger: plus-7, plus-17, plus-18 and plus-2.

It is important to remember Jerami Grant.

At 6-8 and 210 pounds, he is easy to forget, since he plays in the shadows of three franchise talents who hover at 7 feet. It's easy to forget him because he was a second-round pick on a team obsessed with compiling first-round assets. It's easy to forget a guy who, depending on coach Brett Brown's current initiative, has started only 28 of 40 games.

But every once in a while, when the matchups are right, Grant leaps into the forefront of Hinkie's evolving Plan.

Grant scored 30 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and blocked an eye-popping nine shots in the Sixers' wins over the Lakers and Kings. He made 10 of 13 shots and, thanks to limiting fouls, he averaged more than 32 minutes in those games.

He was less visible on the stat sheet in wins against the Suns and Timberwolves, in part because he played 22 minutes in each and committed 11 of a possible 12 fouls, but he was just as active, just as disruptive on defense; just as valuable.

"Before our eyes, we've seen it," said Brown, who relishes giving Grant the most difficult defensive assignments. "He's going to guard Jimmy Butler (Thursday). He's going to guard LeBron. He's going to guard Mirotic, as a 'four.'"

Butler, a swingman, and Nikola Mirotic, a power forward with outside range, or a "stretch-four," are X-factors that make the Bulls an Eastern Conference powerhouse around cornerstones Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol. One night, it's LeBron James; another, it's Timberwolves star Andrew Wiggins; the next, Carmelo Anthony.

That's a heavy load for a second-year player selected 39th. His father, Harvey, his uncle, Horace, and his brother, Jerian, all went before the 20th selection in their drafts. At 21, Jerami is the youngest among them; a skittish colt still growing into his body, still learning his game.

That game could be dynamic, said Brown, if Grant's wide frame and limited range mature.

"He'll get there naturally. Look at the width of his shoulders. Genes. Genetics. DNA. I think he's going to carry his weight well; I don't think it's going to make him ground-bound," Brown said.

"The sky is the limit for him," said veteran point guard Ish Smith, who has played with Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant among his nine teams in six NBA seasons. "Defensively, he's unbelievable. Offensively, he's a juggernaut."

Well, maybe not a juggernaut. Grant averages 8.9 points on 42.2 percent shooting, dismal for a skywalker with a quick first step who is excellent at running the floor and finishing at the rim. Grant's shooting percentage is sabotaged by his 19.7 percent mark for three-pointers. That's down from 31.4 percent as a rookie, and last in the league among players who have taken at least 75 threes; last, by 5 percentage points.

Uh...Brett?

"I think that part of his game will be the swing vote that separates him," Brown said.

It's important to remember that, for now, the Sixers' mission is to develop players. Brown has a roster full of giants who will clog the lane. He needs Grant to open up the lane.

"He's most dangerous when other four-men try to run with him, or try to guard him on a catch-go," Brown said. "If he continues to improve on those defensive qualities, which we recognize, I think he's a keeper, for sure."

As long as Grant practices threes, he can keep shooting them, Brown said, and, so, expect them to keep flying. Grant is a workaholic who routinely sneaks back into the practice gym late at night. He shoots tons of treys then, and at practice, and before games, all charted by the numbers-crazed staff Brown and Hinkie assembled. The Sixers have competitions for practice treys. Grant does not win.

"I know I'm struggling from the three-point line. I'm getting better. I'm more comfortable," Grant said. "I just have to be more confident when I shoot it."

As comfortable as he is when he goes up for a block. Every player who averages as many as Grant's 1.6 blocks per game is at least 7 feet tall except Serge Ibaka, a 6-10 defensive star. Grant's timing, wingspan and leaping ability make him a unique weapon, as long as he doesn't attack prematurely.

"Last year, I went for a lot of head fakes," said Grant, who specializes coming off his own man to spike an opponent's shot — to Brown's delight.

"We encourage him to go punch shots. We coach it to gang-block," Brown said. "Look, he's got a chance to be an elite defender. It's one of my great frustrations and challenges: I don't believe we have enough two-way players. Our best shooters aren't our best defenders and our best defenders aren't our best shooters.

"The collision of those two skill packages gets you to playoff rotations."

It's important to remember that, for a part-time starter on a four-win team, a playoff rotation is a long way off.

Looking at the numbers, Brown knows that, in Grant, he might have a valuable piece.

On Twitter: @inkstainedwretch