Getty Quentin Grimes is giving the Knicks hope for the future.
Throughout the summer, the New York Knicks were engaged with trade talks with the Utah Jazz for star guard Donovan Mitchell.
At the center of those talks was second year guard Quentin Grimes, somebody who spent the start of last season not even playing and finished averaging six points per game. Despite that, this was a player the Jazz coveted, and the Knicks ultimately decided to hang onto him.
In the end, Mitchell was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Knicks held onto Grimes and their plethora of draft picks.
It’s clear that Grimes is somebody the Knicks value highly, and he’s quickly making a name for himself within the organization. While he’s not ready for the starting spot just yet, there’s a sense he could be there at some point during the upcoming season.
In a preview of the upcoming season, The Athletic’s John Hollinger dubs Grimes as the team’s “next best hope” and those are some big words he’ll have to live up to.
Grimes Carrying the Load
If things go as planned, Grimes could very well find himself in the Most Improved Player discussion in his second year.
Grimes will be getting a bigger workload in the upcoming season, and Hollinger is singing his praises.
“Quentin Grimes is the next big hope after a solid rookie season, a big guard with a let-it-fly mentality from 3; Grimes was more accurate as a rookie than he was as a collegian, and if that wasn’t an outlier, he has a future as a volume bomber,” he wrote. “If he also can defend good wing players, then New York has something.”
This is a player that definitely fits the Tom Thibodeau system as he’s a strong defender who leaves it all on the court game in and game out. While he’s currently dealing with an injury, something that might’ve allowed Evan Fournier to run away with the starting spot, Grimes is expected to be a major player in the upcoming season.
Grimes is Hungry
The young guard has all but conceded the starting job to Fournier, something that was already expected going into the season.
“[Tom Thibodeau] said ‘you gotta come in and earn it,’ and that’s what I kind of expected going into training camp but then I kind of got hurt. So that kind of derailed that,” Grimes said. “But I feel like he earned it, he was the guy that I had to come in and beat out and I had to prove myself. I just didn’t get the opportunity to do that.”
His injury did come at a rough time, but that doesn’t mean he’ll have a diminished role going into the season. If the Knicks find success in the upcoming year, something Hollinger notes will be tough, a big part of that will be on Grimes.
Also important will be the continued development of the rest of the roster and that includes the likes of Obi Toppin, Immanuel Quickley and the newly-extended RJ Barrett.
The Knicks have the makings of an exciting squad for the next season, but will it be enough to get them to the playoffs?