Quentin Grimes is relieved he’s no longer with the New York Knicks to fight for playing time and shots in a veteran-laden rotation.
But also because he’s done fighting the dreaded New York traffic.
“It would take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and 20 minutes to get to the game,” Grimes told the New York Post. “If you hit any traffic or anything, it’ll take you an hour [and] 20 [minutes]. They send out that mass text like, ‘Everybody, leave early because of traffic.’”
According to the New York Post report, Grimes’ commute to the Pistons’ home venue, Little Caesar’s Arena, from his downtown Detroit place is more convenient than his previous setup with the Knicks having their practice facility outside the city in Westchester.
Grimes’ face-off with the Knicks is just his second game in Pistons uniform as he’s just recovered from a knee sprain he sustained before the trade.
“I really don’t look at it like, ‘Oh, I got to go off or something,’” Grimes told the New York Post. “But you do get a little extra oomph when you wake up and try to go off against a team that traded you.”
How Quentin Grimes Turned from Untouchable to Expendable
The once untouchable Grimes suddenly became expendable with the flourishing of Knicks’ free agent pickup Donte DiVincenzo and his falling out with coach Tom Thibodeau after his public gripes about his lack of touches in December.
Grimes doubled down on his take about his diminished role from the Knicks’ playoff run last season.
“It wasn’t like how it was last year,” Grimes told the New York Post. “But sometimes it goes like that. We had RJ [Barrett] the whole season, Julius[ Randle]. Everybody was pretty much healthy so those guys need the ball for the majority of the game, so it’s hard to get shots and stuff like that when you’re playing with three guys who are pretty ball-dominant. So that’s just kind of how it went this year.”
The Knicks repeatedly kept Grimes out of the Donovan Mitchell trade talks and in the Cam Reddish deal with the Atlanta Hawks. But the moment he talked against the team and failed to regain his footing with the second unit even after Immanuel Quickley and Barrett were traded, he knew his days were numbered.
“I knew it was going to happen. I didn’t know it would be Detroit. It was a few teams,” Grimes told the New York Post. “But I knew it was going to happen, for sure.”
The 23-year-old Grimes is coming off a quiet five-point debut on 2 of 8 shooting for the Pistons in a 112-109 loss to the Orlando Magic. He added two rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block.
Evan Fournier Claims He’s Still Not Past His Prime Yet
Aside from Grimes, Evan Fournier will also make his return to New York after his harrowing tenure with the Knicks mercifully ended with the trade that also included Malachi Flynn, Ryan Arcidiacono and a second-round pick for Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks.
Fournier is making the most out of his new opportunity.
Finally free, the French guard is averaging 11.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.0 steals for the lottery-bound Pistons. Despite going winless in his first four outings with his new team, Fournier showed he’s far from done in the NBA.
“Bro, I’m 31, not 40,” Fournier told New York Daily News. ” I’m in my best years, literally.”
Fournier is shooting 50% from the field and making 2.5 3s per game with a 47.4% accuracy in 21.5 minutes off the bench.
“I was hoping for a trade and it happened, so it worked out,” Fournier told the New York Daily News.
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Quentin Grimes Shares What He Doesn’t Miss About Knicks