What Skills Does Quentin Grimes Bring to the Dallas Mavericks?

Before being sent from New York to the Detroit Pistons on a trade-deadline deal in 2024, shooting guard Quentin Grimes had a solid season for the Knicks, though he had seen a decreased role from the previous season.

In 2022-23, he averaged 29.1 minutes per game, scoring 11.3 minutes per game in his second season in the NBA and shooting 38.6% from beyond the arc. However, with the emergence of Donte DiVincenzo and some bad injury luck, he began to see fewer minutes in his third season with the Knicks, playing about 20.2 minutes and putting up 7.0 points per game along with 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists.

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Grimes was then traded to the Pistons as a part of the Bojan Bogdanovic deal, where he played just six games before going down with a season-ending knee injury. In those few games, he struggled to find a rhythm, though that could mostly be chalked up to chemistry issues within the Detroit organization.

Considering he played combo guard with a bit of emphasis on lead initiator in his pre-NBA days, Grimes has residual positives from his experience doing so, mostly in his handle and ability to facilitate in transition. He hasn’t played lead guard consistently since being in the NBA, even in his rookie season, where he spent only about 14% of his minutes at that spot according to Basketball Reference.

Grimes’ offensive role now is that of a spot-up shooter – just 19.7% of his attempts come at the rim according to Synergy Sports, and when he is attacking the rim, he prefers to pass the ball off rather than trying to finish through traffic. 74.5% of his total shots are off the catch, and 98% of those are from beyond the arc, which defines Grimes’ role as a “three-and-D” off-guard.

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The area in which he really shines, however, is the “D” part of the equation: Grimes has, since high school, been considered an elite defensive asset on the perimeter. He has great footwork, which makes it difficult for opposing guards to get by him. He supplements this with active hands on opposing ball handlers and in passing lanes, averaging 1.7 steals per game over his time with the Knicks and Pistons last season.

Grimes is good at navigating screens on the defensive end, and considering how heavily teams use perimeter screening actions in the NBA, this skill can’t go unnoticed. He’s a right-place-right-time guy, which speaks to his defensive feel, something he’s had his entire career going back to his prep days.

Overall, Grimes brings a bit of ball handling, some transition passing, but mostly, elite defense, and catch-and-shoot proficiency. Surrounding Luka Doncic with more spot-up players has worked, but the Mavericks’ lack of elite knockdown shooting was part of what cost them the series against Boston.

Obviously, Nico Harrison addressed this in the offseason, not just with Klay Thompson, but with Naji Marshall, and now, with Grimes. Considering the Mavericks’ three-point attempt rate this year of 44.1%, the more snipers, the better.

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