Who Is Danny Granger?
The legend of Pacers’ wing Danny Granger.
Danny Granger was supposed to be the Indiana Pacers next star.
The small forward was drafted in 2005 with the 17th overall pick and joined a Pacers team that was facing turmoil because of the Malice in the Palace incident. The team, which could have been a championship team, were having issues in the locker room.
As a result, All-Star forward Ron Artest was traded.
But while all of this was going down, Granger was training in The Gravity Machine, waiting for his time to show off his skills.
In his rookie season, he played 78 games (started 17) and averaged 7.5 points and 4.9 rebounds.
The following season, in 2006-07, head coach Rick Carlisle gave him more responsibilities and had plans to make him a key component of the team.
Indiana traded away two starters (Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington), which made room for Granger to have the ball in his hands more, so that he could develop his game.
Granger played 82 games this season (started 57 of them) and averaged 13.9 points and 4.6 rebounds.
However, the Pacers only won 35 games and missed the playoffs for the first time in 9 years.
Indiana was now entering a retooling period.
Now, with Granger expected to be the team’s next star, the Pacers started building around him.
In 2007-08, he played 80 games as a full-time starter and averaged 20 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. He also played on the defensive end and averaged 1.1 blocks and 1.2 steals.
But once again, Indiana did not win enough games to make the playoffs. Regardless, they still believed that Granger was going to be their next franchise player.
The next season (2008-09), team leader Jermaine O’Neal departed Indiana for the Toronto Raptors and the Pacers were now Granger’s team.
And he did not disappoint.
With his 3-point shooting, slashing and all-around defence, he averaged a career-high 26 points in 67 contests. Additionally, he averaged 5 rebounds, 3 assists, just over 1 block and 1 steal per game.
His exceptional two-way play landed him on the All-Star team and won him the Most Improved Player of the Year Award.
He was blossoming nicely into the player the Pacers could rely on. However, despite Granger’s great individual play, the club missed the playoffs once again.
Granger and Indiana continued to miss the playoffs the next couple of seasons. But he was playing great basketball and hit some milestones:
He recorded a career high of 6 steals in a game against the San Antonio Spurs on March 6, 2008.
He recorded a career high of 6 blocks in a game against the Houston Rockets on Nov. 26, 2008
He scored a career high 44 points in a game against the Utah Jazz on Mar. 26, 2010
The Pacers wouldn’t make it back to the playoffs until two seasons later, in 2010-11.
Indiana still wasn’t a good team, per se. They did compete in the postseason, but their record was 37-45. They weren’t even at .500.
Granger, however, continued to play well. He suited up for 79 games –the most games he played in 3 years– and averaged 20.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.1 steals.
Additionally, he was now getting help.
The Pacers had a young Darren Collison running point, a young Roy Hibbert protecting the paint, and a rookie Paul George incubating in the Nursery Capsule.
Things were looking up for Granger and the Indiana Pacers.
In the 2011-12 season, Granger’s numbers started to slip, but the Pacers went 42-24 (third in East) in the shortened lockout season.
The main reason was that Granger didn’t have to do all of the scoring anymore. The team brought on former All-Star David West to help him out. George and Collison were also improving offensively.
The Pacers went all the way to the semifinals this year, where the Miami Heat defeated them in 6 games.
Granger and Indiana were on a good run. He was playing well and the team was winning games.
But things were not ideal to start the 2012-13 season.
He missed the first 55 games because of knee tendonitis and when he came back, he only played 5 games before getting surgery on his damaged knee.
Luckily, the Pacers had George and West to carry them to 49 wins and to the Conference Finals, where they took the Heat to 7 games (and lost).
Granger made his way back to the hardwood the following season and played 29 games with the Pacers. But because of his health and the business side of basketball, he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, where he was immediately waived and signed by the L.A. Clippers. He played 12 games with them.
In 2014-15, he joined the Miami Heat and suited up for 30 games. He was shipped to Phoenix at the trade deadline but didn’t play a single game in Arizona because of his knee problems.
Feeling he was taking up roster and cap space, the Suns traded him to Detroit in the offseason, where he was waived right before the start of the 2015-16 season.
He announced his retirement shortly thereafter.
Granger played 10 years in the NBA and averaged 16.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.0 steals.
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