The NBA is a community. Even when players are on different teams, the degree of separation between them and other organizations is small.
Quentin Grimes is a perfect example. On the surface, he is the newest Laker and a five-year player who has spent most of his time in New York and Philadelphia.
However, for a brief moment, he was a teammate of Luka Dončić on the Mavericks. And when you factor that he’s worked out multiple times with Lakers head coach JJ Redick, even staying at his guest house during
one of those sessions, it’s obvious he is entering into this new situation with some familiarity.
During an interview on ESPN LA’s Mason & Ireland Show, Grimes discussed the ties he’s had with the Lakers.
“I think everybody wants to be wanted as a player and I feel like there was a lot of mutual interest between me and the Lakers for a while now. “Nobody expected Luka [Dončić] to be with the Lakers and we had a good little run with Dallas. I knew JJ [Redick], I knew Jarred Vanderbilt, I knew Kurt Rambis and Greg St. Jean and everybody so it was kind of like a no-brainer and a great fit honestly.”
Grimes has the respect from his new team, which should make chemistry a breeze. Redick wouldn’t have worked with Grimes before if he didn’t like his game and work ethic.
Still, it’s almost a certainty that other teams had interest in Grimes as well. So it’s going to take more than that for a player to join a franchise. Besides his four-year, $60 million deal, Grimes selected the Lakers because the role he was pitched enticed him.
He elaborated on this during the next portion of his interview.
“That was really one of the bigger selling points. Talking with JJ and then having them be able to pitch me what my role [will] look like, having a pretty big offensive role within the team. But also having a big leadership role on defense as well as taking on that challenge every night of guarding the best players and wanting that responsibility. I want to have that challenge every night. So, that was really the two main things when I was choosing [a team] in free agency.”
Grimes averaged 13.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game last season. With six of LA’s top 10 scorers from last year gone, there is a need for additional scoring and Grimes could be the answer.
What’s also interesting from this quote is Grimes viewing himself as a defensive leader. He’s assuming that he’ll defend some of the best players on most teams. Grimes being a top two-way player for the Lakers is a big ask, but he’s looking forward to answering the call.
Knowing Grimes has a connection with LA’s superstar, their head coach, other players on the team and the front office people, he knows what he’s getting into.
Grimes understands the pressure and is up for the challenge. The interest has been mutual and this fall we’ll hopefully see why both sides wanted this partnership to happen.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
