The newly-acquired Jerami Grant hammered down this dunk against Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors.
Earlier this week, the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled off a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers, who sent Jerami Grant to OKC and received Ersan Ilyasova. Grant is a third-year pro who got selected by the Sixers in the 2014 NBA Draft.
The Syracuse product would get thrown into the fire with Thursday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors. It had been hyped for months as the first encounter between Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant since the latter left for the 2015 NBA champions and 2016 runner-ups.
Midway through the first quarter, Grant would make his presence felt, and certainly made Durant aware of him. He drove through a crowded lane to the basket and posterized the former NBA MVP with this dunk.
The Thunder bench got fired up for the new guy making an impact, which will be expected of him on this retooled team.
Grant had received starter minutes with the Sixers before arriving in OKC. He started 63 games over the past two seasons, 52 of which came in 2015-16. The 22-year-old put up 9.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in 26.8 minutes, but on a horrible team.
More on FanSided:
Now, he gets to play a role on a potential Western Conference playoff team, which may suit him better. Being able to play alongside a 2016-17 MVP candidate and other talented players like Steven Adams and Victor Oladipo will help too.
Through four games, the OKC has remained perfect at 4-0. Westbrook has carried them through with his triple-double average of 37.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 10.0 assists per game.
Next: NBA: 2000s All-Decade First Team
It’s an incredible feat, one that will be difficult to keep up, however. He’ll need to rely on other players like Jerami Grant, Domantas Sabonis, and others to keep himself fresh throughout the season.