Knicks 'Defensive Pest' Quentin Grimes Eyes Upward Trajectory
The New York Knicks looked very different in the backcourt this past season compared to a year ago.
Of course, Jalen Brunson wasn't there, but Quentin Grimes didn't see the floor too much. That changed this past season after starting 66 games at the shooting guard spot for the Knicks. While he doesn't account for the complete improvement of the Knicks, he certainly deserves a sizeable chunk of the credit.
"The Knicks didn't play Grimes enough as a rookie in 2021-22, but they didn't make that same mistake this past season," Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey wrote of Grimes when listing each team's top three prospects. "He tallied New York's fourth-most starts (66) and fifth-most minutes (2,121) while serving as both a knockdown shooter from distance (157 triples on 38.6 percent shooting) and a defensive pest."
At 6-5, Grimes isn't tall, but he has active hands always looking to turn the ball over or to make an opponent's shot as miserable as possible. That's a big reason why he gained favor with head coach Tom Thibodeau.
“Coming to the NBA last year, you gotta kinda earn your trust. You gotta earn every minute you get on the court and I feel like defensively was something that’s never gonna go away,” Grimes told Jackson Frank of UPROXX earlier this year. “You can always put a guy defensively out there on the court. That’s where I kind of had to earn my trust with Thibs last year, just being a guy, come in there and play super hard and guard the best player.”
Now with Donte DiVincenzo in the fold, it remains to be seen if Grimes will stay in the starting lineup. But as a 23-year-old with only two years of experience in the NBA, this could be just the tip of the iceberg for what's to come in his career.
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