Quentin Grimes: A Core Sixer in the Making

 

 

While this season has gone as smoothly as a wooden roller coaster built on a mountain of boulders, there is one young promising player who might have found a home in Philly after going through four different teams in as many years

The main Sixers storyline from the 2024-2025 season has been Joel Embiid seemingly limping through the season and either refusing to get surgery (or being forced to play by the 76ers incompetent medical staff), wrapped inside of a big ol’ burrito that is Paul George’s own lack of health and inability to take the lid off the basket.

Rather than focus on the 76ers current record and 2025 outlook, we’re taking a moment to appreciate a young player who has played less than 10 games for the 76ers but has shown massive promise on an efficiency and per minute basis in his limited action.

That’s right, we’re talking about the recently-crowned King of Philadelphia (according to the Sixers subreddit) and folk hero known colloquially as “Quentin Grimes”.

Lock Quentin Grimes in the starting lineup and throw away the key @sixers pic.twitter.com/HM0sbszIk4

— Vote The Process (@VoteTheProcess) February 23, 2025

Back on February 4th, the 76ers and Mavericks agreed to a swap of Quentin Grimes and a second-round pick for Caleb Martin, and many fans cheered the move if not solely because Martin hadn’t played at all in about a month and because his production had been declining.

His fourth team in four years, Quentin Grimes has been playing his heart out for the Sixers (likely because he knows this is somewhat of a prove it year for him), and so far through his Sixers run he is shooting the highest FG% of his career and draining 47% of his shots.

His impact in less than ten games has been noticeable and his confident three-point shooting has been unbelievably refreshing.

Lets face it, an incredibly lacking aspect of the Sixers overall game right now is spacing, effective three point shooting (see how the Celtics game planned against Oubre recently), and ball movement.

Grimes’ ability to nail catch-and-shoot threes and his overall three-point shooting ability is direly needed, and this year Grimes is currently shooting 38.6% from three, which ranks 23rd among shooting guards this year.

He’s also not just a lanky outside playmaker, but someone who can play above his size and bang bodies in the paint to get the boards that come his way, and he is averaging the 23rd-most rebounds per game among SGs.

Additionally, he has the fourth-highest rebound percentage among the position.

Grimes’ vertical jump and finishing ability is impressive too, and he just needs a small seam to enable him to sprint directly through the teeth of a defense and slam it home.

His shooting efficiency and floor spacing has been vital for a figuratively obliterated Sixers lineup, and right now Grimes’ true shooting percentage ranks as the 18th-best among SGs.

For what it’s worth, he also ranks 20th in terms of SGs when it comes to Offensive Box Plus/Minus.

Grimes is particularly proficient at catch and shoot threes, and he frequently acts as a security blanked for Embiid or Maxey when they’re doubled or their isolation work comes up empty.

Grimes’ ability to hit corner threes with ease helps every player on the team, as defenses have to respect his outside scoring potential which results in bodies and zones being more spread out, enabling all Sixers to see the floor better and win their matchup more easily.

After bouncing around from the Knicks, to the Pistons, to the Mavs, to now the 76ers, Grimes’ three-point shooting skills mixed with his overall awareness and quick passing might make Philadelphia his home.

Unlike fans’ other gripes with other Sixers role players, Grimes has at minimum above average basketball IQ. He is adept at quicky finding the wide open man and threading bullet passes through opposing arms and hands.

While it is less than a ten game sample size, throughout his Sixers stint Grimes is averaging career highs in:

• Points
• Steals
• Assists
• Rebounds
• Two-pointers made
• Minutes

Let. Quentin. Grimes. Cook.

— Vote The Process (@votetheprocess.bsky.social) 2025-02-24T04:07:25.355Z

With the exception of his six-game stint with the Pistons, Grimes has been a pretty consistent scorer and shooter.

Excluding that dismal Detroit stretch, Grimes has shot at least 39% from the field and at least 34% from three for every team that has acquired him.

So at the very least Sixers fans can hope for similar 35-40% shooting across the board which might just be enough to end the 76ers current checks notes seven game losing streak.

Anyways, RIP Sam Hinkie and please let Joel Embiid get surgery.