Introducing New Maverick: Quentin Grimes

From spacing to defensive grit: What Grimes brings to the Mavericks?

Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Quentin Grimes was part of the deal that finally ended the Tim Hardaway Jr. era in Dallas (the Mavericks had to attach three second-round picks to make it happen). Among all the summer acquisitions—Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall, Spencer Dinwiddie—Grimes is probably the player Mavericks fans know the least about. This makes him the perfect subject for our first player deep dive, so let's ‘digg in'.

There are other reasons why Grimes is an intriguing addition to the Mavericks' rotation. He'll be one of the options (Marshall and Dante Exum being the others) to fill the primary point-of-attack defender role, left void by the departures of Derrick Jones Jr. and Josh Green. Grimes is also another in the long line of 3-and-D player archetypes that the Mavericks have surrounded Luka Dončić with.

What kind of role will he play? Where will he fit in the rotation hierarchy? Is he a replacement for Hardaway Jr., Green, or Jones?

To shed more light on these questions and to learn more about Grimes' skill set, I compared him to some of the past Mavericks' 3-and-D options (Jones, Green, Exum, Dorian Finney-Smith, Reggie Bullock) and players who are most similar based on physical traits, advanced stats, and tracking stats (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Royce O'Neal, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker).

Offense

Archetype: spot-up shooting wing, floor spacer, volume three-point shooter

Shooting and Spacing

There are many layers to a 3-and-D player, especially when it comes to the 3. For example, 'DJJ' was a poor shooter (low volume/low accuracy) that teams sagged off aggressively, which had a big impact on spacing. The best version of Bullock in Dallas was a high-volume, high-accuracy sniper. Finney-Smith was probably in between, while Green and Exum made threes at a good clip but were never high-volume shooters.

Source: Second Spectrum data; last 3 seasons; per 100 = per 100 possessions

Now, as you can see in the table, none of them—or any other player in our comparison—tops Grimes when it comes to three-point volume (Threes per 100 possessions column). Throughout his career, teams have shot significantly more threes when Grimes was on the floor, according to Cleaning the Glass. Willingness to shoot the three is often a bigger determinant of how teams treat a shooter than three-point accuracy. This is why Hardaway Jr. was defended much closer than Green or Exum, despite having a lower 3P%. Almost 57 percent of Grimes' three-point attempts were heavily contested over the last three seasons, another category where he tops our comparison and is significantly higher than any other past Mavericks' 3-and-D option. Simply put, opposing defenses treat Grimes as a sniper, which should have a positive impact on spacing and give Dončić and Kyrie Irving more room to operate. I'll write more about the Mavericks' total makeover of three-point volume in the future, but for now, remember it's not only about Klay Thompson. Grimes is another player who'll significantly impact the '3-vs-2' math when he's on the floor.

Shot creation and creating advantage

This is where I've seen some misconceptions about Grimes. Despite having a guard's size and playing the majority of his time as a shooting guard in the past, he's not an on-ball creator or playmaker for others.

Source: Second Spectrum data; last 3 seasons

If you look at key metrics (average touch length, average dribble time, percentage of self-created shots, drives per 100 possessions), he’s closer to Jones and Finney-Smith than to Exum, Green, or Alexander-Walker. This is one of the reasons they are included in this comparison—to highlight this difference and portray Grimes as a wing rather than a guard. A league observer who focuses on player skills described Grimes to me as one of the worst dribblers at the guard position in the NBA. This might be harsh, but a poor ball-handling reputation was noted in Grimes' draft profiles before he entered the league in 2021. You can see it in his film and some of the tracking data.

Attacking close-outs, maintaining advantage and off-ball action

As mentioned, Grimes' biggest strength and value for the offense is floor spacing. He's a quick decision-maker, both when it comes to taking a quick shot without hesitation or making a quick pass to keep the ball moving. He's also a good standstill passer. Most of his close-out attacks are three-point shots, but when he does drive, he looks to pass more than finish compared to other players in my comparison (see the share of Ballhandler FGA and share of Ballhandler PASS columns). One of the reasons for this is his lack of a mid-range and floater game.

Source: Second Spectrum data; last 3 seasons; per 100 = per 100 possessions

But Grimes is a much more capable shooter on the move or coming off screens than most of the Mavericks' past standstill 3-and-D options, which is another testament to his shooting capabilities. How Jason Kidd and the Mavericks' staff leverage Grimes' (and even more so, Thompson's) movement shooting skills will be one of the interesting things to watch next season.

Defense

Archetype: primary on-ball defender

The Mavericks replaced their primary on-ball defenders, Jones and Green, with Marshall and Grimes over the summer, while Exum remains a solid alternative and complement. Grimes and Marshall will probably be used interchangeably, with Grimes better suited to defend high-volume guard pick-and-roll ball handlers, while Marshall can body up against more physical, bigger wing scorers.

Source: Second Spectrum data; last 3 seasons; per 100 = per 100 possessions

Grimes is certainly used to a heavy defensive load; he ranked at the top in both the number of picks and the number of drives defended per 100 possessions in my comparison. He’s not a disruptor like Jones was; he doesn't have the agility and fluidity to fight over screens (getting skinny), nor does he have the length and athleticism for rear-view contests. But Grimes has a good motor and always seems to hustle his way close to the action, recovering to the ball handler when defending in drop coverage. He worked well in this role when paired with a mobile big like Isaiah Hartenstein, which makes his potential pairing with Derreck Lively II intriguing. Grimes is more disciplined and less mistake-prone at navigating screens than Green was, making him more reminiscent of Bullock or Royce O'Neal, but with slightly better lateral quickness. Grimes is good at defending the drive (ranked 3rd in points per chance allowed and had the lowest blow-by percentage in my comparison), which makes him more suitable against drive-heavy ball handlers rather than those who excel at manipulating screens and are pull-up threats from three. He's also a good switch and isolation defender and excels as a shrink-and-recover off-ball defender.

Health: The Key to Success in Dallas

Grimes has the tools to secure a rotation spot, or even a more significant role, if his three-point shot falls consistently in Dallas. We've seen this player archetype succeed in a Dončić-centric system with Bullock. If healthy, Grimes can be a better and younger version of that on both sides of the floor. A healthy Grimes could be one of the most underrated pickups of the summer.

On the flip side, he’s only 24 years old but has a well-documented history of knee injury problems, and it seems he didn't fully recover from them last season. This is a quote from NBA injury chronicler Jeff Stotts when I asked him about Grimes' knee problems:

"He's missed quite a few games but never needed surgery. I'm curious if last year's issues were linked to a patella subluxation he had earlier in his career. It's worth monitoring but not a massive red flag."

If Grimes can fully recover, I can certainly see him carving a spot in Kidd's rotation. We know Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd loves tough, defensive-minded players, and Grimes fits that bill. With newcomers Thompson, Dinwiddie, and Grimes in the mix alongside Dončić, Irving, Exum, and Jaden Hardy, the Mavericks possess a lot of flexibility and optionality between offense and defense in what looks like a crowded backcourt.

We know Kidd will experiment and test different options early in the season, but where he leans early (between the offensive-minded Dinwiddie and Hardy or better defenders in Grimes and Exum) will be one of the things I'll be paying attention to when the season starts.