JJ Redick provided the punchline. Quentin Grimes may be supplying the answer.
A week after the Los Angeles Lakers coach went viral for offering an unusual clue about his starting lineup, Grimes has spent the opening days of training camp describing a role that sounds increasingly like that of a starter.
Redick said he was “pretty confident” Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler would occupy three spots. Then he joked about the two openings.
“The other two spots will not be two white guys,” Redick said before the training camp.
Redick did not identify either player. But Grimes has dropped several clues suggesting he has the inside track on one.
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The biggest hint might be what Redick and assistant Greg St. Jean have already asked Grimes to do.
“We’ve already had conversations,” Grimes said at media day. “JJ and Greg just trying to get me back to my first couple years in New York, when Thibs gave me a lot of responsibility of being a point-of-attack defender to bring that intensity, bring nastiness.”
That version of Grimes became a starter under Tom Thibodeau with the New York Knicks, often drawing the toughest perimeter assignments while supplying the shooting needed around higher-usage creators.
The numbers support the 3-and-D label. Grimes shot 38.6% from 3 while starting 66 of 71 games for New York in 2022-23. Two seasons later, he shot 39.8% from deep in 47 games with Dallas, where he gained experience playing alongside Doncic.
Los Angeles now wants to revive the defensive half of that equation.
The assignment also sounds familiar.
Marcus Smart helped establish the Lakers’ defensive personality last season before leaving in free agency. Asked after Thursday’s practice about replacing Smart, Grimes did not shy away from the comparison.
“You could tell last year he was kind of a little bit of the heart and soul of the team,” Grimes said of Smart. “He would set that tone, set that intensity.”
Then came perhaps the most revealing phrase.
“For me, just kind of sliding into that role,” Grimes said, before pointing to an important difference. “I maybe have a little more offensive versatility than him.”
Grimes has numbers to support that belief.
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His offensive evolution became impossible to miss after Dallas traded him to Philadelphia during the 2024-25 season.
Given an expanded role, Grimes averaged 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 28 games for the 76ers while shooting 46.9% from the field and 37.3% from 3. He followed that breakout stretch by averaging 13.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists across 75 games last season.
Those Philadelphia numbers help explain why Grimes views himself as more than a replacement for Smart.
The Lakers can ask him to handle the toughest perimeter assignment without limiting him to standing in the corner offensively. Grimes has shown he can attack closeouts, get downhill, handle the ball and create for teammates — skills that fit Redick’s push toward a more versatile offense built around players who can dribble, pass and shoot.
That becomes particularly valuable alongside Doncic and Reaves.
“We got two of the best on-ball players in the game,” Grimes said. “So just being able to play off-ball.”
He knows what comes next when Doncic or Reaves bends a defense.
“They’re going to command double teams,” Grimes said. “You gotta be ready to catch the ball, make a play.”
Grimes has already demonstrated he can thrive alongside Doncic as a floor spacer. Philadelphia subsequently showed what can happen when he is asked to do more with the ball.
The Lakers might not need that 21.9-point version every night. They also don’t need Grimes to be merely a stationary shooter.
They need the defender Thibodeau trusted in New York, the shooter who connected on nearly 40% of his 3s alongside Doncic in Dallas and enough of the expanded offensive game he developed in Philadelphia to punish defenses for loading up on the Lakers’ stars.
Redick has not awarded the job.
But if Doncic, Reaves and Kessler are the first three starters, Grimes is beginning to sound like a player being prepared to stand next to them.
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