Kelly Olynyk, Jerami Grant getting close to returning

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The Pistons have actually lacked their 2 highest-paid gamers for more than a month, however both might return within the next couple of weeks. The timing is fantastic for Detroit, which has actually won 5 of its last 9 video games after winning simply 5 of its very first 32.

“Spent the last few days working him out, and we had some individual workouts with him,” assistant coach Rex Kalamian, who led practice on Monday, stated of Grant. “He looked really good, shooting the ball really well. He’s on the road and he’s on pace to where he should be. We’re excited about him playing down there with the Motor City Cruise. I think he’s more practicing with them and just getting back into shape. It’s going to take a little time, I’m sure.”

Grant was Detroit’s finest gamer last season and was discovering his rhythm this season prior to suffering the injury on Dec. 10. He’s balancing 20.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per video game this season. In his last 6 video games played, he balanced 23.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.3 helps and 1.7 blocks while shooting 45.5% total, 40% from 3 and 90.7% at the line.

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Olynyk has actually just played 10 video games this season, however the Pistons have actually missed him. A profession 36.6% shooter, Olynyk is the very best flooring spacer and passer of all of Detroit’s frontcourt gamers. They have actually been thin at center with Olynyk out of the rotation, requiring Trey Lyles to highlight a position to compensate.

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It appears Olynyk is more detailed to returning than Grant. The training personnel expects Olynyk going back to the rotation throughout this journey. He practiced with the group on Monday, and Dwane Casey stated it should not take him much time to reacclimate.

“Kelly’s a smart player,” Casey stated. “It’s not going to take him long. He knew all of the positions when he was healthy. In training camp, there was a couple of times he ran out when we needed a wing player. He went out on the wing and played the wing position. So he’s a smart player. He knows all of the positions on the court as far as what’s supposed to be done. The main thing with him is just going to be game conditioning, understanding how long it takes to get down the court a few times. It won’t take him long to get acclimated to the actions and schemes and all of that.

“He does an outstanding job of shooting and death,” Casey continued. “He offers us some lift. Not going to call him Dennis Rodman, rebounding-wise, however he offers us some size inside that can assist us get some rebounds and secure the rim a bit. He brings a lot to the table, specifically on the offending end.”