A stellar post-deadline run with the Philadelphia 76ers last year revealed Quentin Grimes to be much more than the three-point specialist who’d bounced between the Knicks, Pistons and Mavericks across his first three-and-a-half seasons.
That’s the tricky part with Grimes’ restricted free agency. The shockingly self-sufficient on-ball scoring he flashed for 28 games with the Sixers came out of nowhere, and it’s hard to trust its viability. Late-season explosions, particularly the kind that come on a tanking team against mostly checked-out opponents, are rarely legit. Then again, maybe Grimes, 24, simply looked like a different player because he was in a different role. If that’s the case, his Philly averages of 21.9 points and 4.5 assists could be for real.
All the rest of the issues afflicting the other restricted free agents apply here. Nobody has money and/or a willingness to furnish an offer sheet, so the Sixers face no urgency to put forth a market-beating offer. Grimes is still a bit different than the rest of his cohort because the larger sample of his career seems so different than the smaller, more recent one with the 76ers.
Even if he’s only the three-and-D option everyone once thought he was, Grimes is still a portable fringe starter—perhaps one with serious upside.
