Subscribe
Follow Us
CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers made Quentin Grimes their marquee addition at the 2025 trade deadline. In due time, he could join their starting five.
Grimes started his last game in place of Justin Edwards, who had started the last nine games for the 76ers. Now that Edwards will miss at least two games due to an ankle sprain, Grimes is in line to start again. Whether he keeps his spot remains to be seen, though Nick Nurse sees him as a great fit around Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey.
“Yeah, probably. I think that's the fit,” Nurse said of starting Grimes when the 76ers get back to full health.
“I think that group needs a dynamic shooting guard with some pop, right? Just the shooting I think in general is what we've always envisioned, [what] I thought that spot needed this year,” the 76ers head coach said. “Early on, we thought maybe it was Eric [Gordon] to start the year. Jared [McCain] then kind of filled it in. Now I think it lands there because I just think that's the fit the team needs with them at both ends.”
Grimes has been working to get acquainted with the Sixers, earning plenty of minutes right away and learning how to play next to his star teammates. His skill set could be exactly what the team needs from a starting two-guard: efficient shooting and elite defense.
“He's been aggressive,” Maxey said of his new teammate. “He's catching onto things fast. We're gonna need his scoring, we're gonna need his defense abilities.”
Maxey remembers facing Grimes in high school. The new Sixer wasn’t quite as bought into defense as he is now, with experience playing for Kelvin Sampson at Houston and Tom Thibodeau's New York Knicks in his first three NBA seasons influencing how he plays as a pro. The two kids from Texas should make for a great pairing in the backcourt.
“His willingness to defend and take on those challenges, he does a really good job of that now,” Maxey said. “I mean, when you're in high school and you're the star player, you're getting up all the shots. He didn't play as much defense then, I'll say that. But now he's a great defender. He knows how to take away guys' tendencies, he's athletic and he competes, so that's great.”
Quentin Grimes emerging as likely starter for 76ers
In what is now his second straight trade deadline joining a new team, Grimes is still acclimating to the City of Brotherly Love. “I've been real comfortable,” he said after the Sixers' practice on Tuesday night, adding that Embiid has been “a good influence” on him and that Nurse has been persistent in helping him learn their playbook and main points of emphasis. Grimes has been told to “be aggressive at all times” on the court.
The 76ers have been one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the NBA this season. A perfect storm of issues — Embiid not being there to create threes for teammates, good shooters shooting poorly, bad shooters playing heavy minutes — have left Philly with a three-point percentage that ranks 21st in the league. Grimes, who's currently shooting a career-best 39.0 percent from deep, will make the Sixers a better shooting team.
“He's got pretty good speed off the screens and some vault-up ability,” Nurse said, touting Grimes' crisp shooting mechanics. “We're just tweaking some of our stuff to get him involved in some stuff like that.”
Nurse also said the 76ers will be “leaning on him just to be one of our better perimeter defenders. He's gonna have a tough assignment every night and we're just trying to get him up a notch there, just in his physicality and his ball pressure and moving his feet and all that stuff.”
Grimes is a physical pest on the ball and an observant opportunist off the ball. When he isn't walling up his matchup, fighting hard through screens to keep them at bay if needed, he's seeing the whole floor and making a play on the ball when the 76ers need it.
Grimes' abilities perfectly complement a trio of stars that needs perimeter defense and floor spacing. The 76ers know they have to make up a lot of ground, so they have to make the most of their talent, especially given the uncertainty around their health. A player like Grimes, who knows the mission and is well-equipped to play a prominent role, is just what Philly needs in its starting group.
“The play-in is kind of built for a team like us 'cause if we get in, I feel like we can make anything happen,” Grimes said. “I feel like once we get everybody healthy, we get a good rhythm out on the court, I feel like we're one of the more dangerous teams, for sure, to look out for.”
