The New York Knicks training camp officially opens in full on October 3, with the first preseason game vs. the Boston Celtics coming on October 9, and the 2023-24 opener against those same Celtics on October 25. In the next month plus, most Knicks players will simply be getting ready for the upcoming campaign, as their roles are relatively set. However, there are a few players on the Knicks roster who will be fighting for a place in the starting lineup. Here is why Quentin Grimes is the 1 Knicks starter in danger of losing his job to Immanuel Quickley or Donte DiVincenzo.
Quentin Grimes, Immanuel Quickley, and Donte DiVincenzo are competing for a place in the Knicks starting lineup
The Knicks starting lineup is pretty set at the start of training camp. We know the point guard is Jalen Brinson, the forwards are RJ Barrett and Julius Randle, and the center is Mitchell Robinson.
That leaves the second guard spot as the lone position of serious competition during the NBA preseason.
Last season, Quentin Grimes started 66 of the 71 games he played in. Those starts were fourth-most on the team, behind Randle, Barrett, and Brunson. The second-year shooting guard performed well in his 29.9 minutes per game. He averaged 11.3 points, 2.1 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and shot 38.6% from 3-point range.
However, when you look at some of the advanced stats, having Grimes on the floor wasn’t always a positive, outside of his ability to space the floor from 3-point range on a team that struggled from behind the arc last season.
The No. 25 overall pick in the 2021 draft was a liability on defense and wasn’t an efficient player. His box plus/minus was -0.1, and his PER was 11.7, well under the league average of 15.
So, while his floor-spacing helps, it may behoove the Knicks to make a change in the starting lineup during training camp, and the two players Tom Thibodeau can consider are fourth-year Knickerbocker Immanuel Quickley or offseason free-agent signing Donte DiVincenzo.
Quickley is an interesting case who started 21 games last season and played 28.9 minutes per game, just a minute per contest less than Grimes. The former Kentucky guard is probably best suited for his current role. He is an instant offense guy off the bench. Quickley averaged 14.9 points, 3.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per game.
His PER was 16.3, and his box plus/minus was 1.7. In basically every statistical category except 3-point shooting percentage (37%), Quickley was better than Grimes. That said, the Knicks need someone who can facilitate and score the basketball to lead the second unit, and Grimes isn’t that player. Quickley is, so he’ll likely stay the sixth man for the upcoming season if the Knicks don’t trade him.
That’s the other caveat with Quickley. He is the team’s best non-essential trade asset, so his name will continue to pop up in trade rumors.
The other option to replace Grimes in the Knicks starting lineup during training camp is Donte DiVincenzo. The 6-foot-4, 26-year-old guard is heading into his sixth NBA season after stints with the Milwaukee Bucks, Sacramento Kings, and Golden State Warriors.
Last season, playing 26.3 minutes per game and starting 36 games for the Warriors, DiVincenzo averaged 9.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 39.7% from behind the arc on 5.3 attempts per game.
DiVincenzo’s PER was 12.8 and his box plus/minus was 0.7, but it’s harder to compare those numbers to Grimes and Quickley’s as those two played with the same players in the same system, and DiVincenzo did not.
Ultimately, DiVincenzo is a better defender than Grimes of Quickley, and if he can keep shooting near 40%, then he could become the 3-and-D off-guard that could help take the Knicks to the next level.
And one more note on DiVincenzo. The Knicks have put together a group of players who are now basically Villanova 2.0. DiVincenzo played for the Wildcats (and won a national championship) on the same team as Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Ryan Arcidiacono, who are all currently on the Kicks roster.
Brunson is the team’s biggest star, and Hart plays a key role as well. Getting DiVincenzo on the floor with them could provide a level of chemistry and comfort that helps the Knicks gel on the floor in a way that they didn’t at times last season, especially when Julius Randle was just pounding the rock at the top of the key.
New York has a chance to be better this year than last, but they need to shake things up a bit. A swap in the starting lineup could do just that, and Donte DiVincenzo could be the player that makes the most sense.
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