Quentin Grimes Should Be The Knicks Starting Shooting Guard This Season

In the three games in which he started and logged more than 32 minutes last season, Grimes averaged 22.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.6 made three-pointers and 2.0 steals.

The primary reason the Knicks inked Evan Fournier to a four-year, $78 million contract last summer was for the Frenchman to knock down three-pointers. And that he did. Fournier started a team-high 80 games in 2021-22 and canned a franchise record 241 triples. The only players with more made 3-pointers last season were Stephen Curry, Buddy Hield and Fred VanVleet. And Fournier shot a higher percentage from downtown (38.9%) than Steph, Hield and FVV. 

However, Fournier didn't bring much to the table besides long-range bombs. He averaged 14.1 points (his lowest scoring output since 2014-15) and shot a career-worst 41.7% from the floor and a career-low 70.8% from the free-throw line.

Nonetheless, I'm not here to suggest that Fournier deserves to be demoted due to inexcusably inferior performance. Instead, shifting him to the second unit and promoting Quentin Grimes to the starting five makes the most sense for the franchise in both the short and long term, mainly due to defensive issues. 

And, as expected, Fournier struggled on the defensive end. The Knicks allowed 112.5 per 100 possessions with Fournier on the floor. New York allowed eight fewer points per 100 possessions with him on the bench. The only rotation player with a worse Defensive Rating was Kemba Walker. 

Conversely, Grimes earned minutes early on as a rookie (not an easy task under head coach Tom Thibodeau) because of his tenacity and effectiveness as a defender. Grimes was able to use his size and athleticism to hound opponents on the perimeter. Grimes' ability to check the other team's top offensive options is crucial on a squad lacking top-tier defenders in the backcourt and on the wing. 

While Jalen Brunson is an upgrade defensively over Kemba - who started at PG over the first half of last season - Brunson is undersized, which limits his versatility on that end. It's tough to envision New York consistently getting the stops they need early in games if Brunson, Fournier, and Julius Randle make up three-fifths of the starting lineup. (The Knicks posted a Net Rating of -3.6 in the first quarter over the first half of the 2021-22 campaign and a Net Rating of +2.9 in the second quarter.)  

Furthermore, Grimes can contribute on the offensive end as well.  

Grimes exuded remarkable self-confidence as soon as he set foot on an NBA court. In his first career start (vs. Milwaukee on December 12th), Grimes poured in 27 points and knocked down seven three-pointers, the most ever by a Knicks rookie. (Here's a handful of players to score at least 25 points in their first career start: Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Ron Harper, Grant Hill, Jerry Stackhouse, Allen Iverson, Lamar Odom, Grant Hill, LeBron James.) Grimes followed that up by scoring 15 points and nailing five triples in his next appearance. 

In the three games in which he started and logged more than 32 minutes, Grimes averaged 22.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.6 made three-pointers and 2.0 steals.  

He finished the season converting 72 of his 189 three-point attempts (38.1%). Trey Murphy was the only other qualified rookie to shoot above 38% from downtown. Grimes also took care of the basketball, averaging just 0.6 turnovers per game. He is one of just two rookies in league history to make over 70 treys and commit fewer than 30 TOs.

Grimes posted a higher effective field goal percentage than Fournier in 2021-22 and averaged a team-high 1.20 points per spot-up possession. Grimes finished the season ranked in the 91st percentile league-wide as a spot-up shooter. 

And as we saw in the Las Vegas Summer League, he is focused on expanding his game. Grimes' ability and willingness to put the ball on the floor and attack the tin was particularly encouraging (he took only 22 shots at the rim last year as a rookie). The Knicks coaching staff in Vegas even asked him to occasionally bring the ball up the floor and facilitate the offense. Grimes dished out 4.0 assists per game to go along with 22.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.4 made triples over five contests in Vegas. 

The only other player to average at least 20/4/4 in Summer League action over the past few years was Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey in 2021. We saw what happened when Maxey was inserted into the starting lineup for Philadelphia last season; he emerged as one of the league's most improved players as his scoring average jumped from 8.0 to 17.5 PPG.

The main story this offseason in New York was, of course, the Knicks' pursuit of Donovan Mitchell. And based on the outcome, one clear takeaway is that the Knicks front office believes in their young core. And while players like RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley were all included in different proposed packages, some reports indicated that Grimes was essentially off-limits. Now, with Mitchell in Cleveland, it makes sense that the Knicks find out precisely what they have in these young prospects they were unwilling to part with. 

Grimes has the chance to develop into a high-quality 3-and-D wing, which is incredibly valuable in today's NBA. 

And as far as Fournier is concerned, assuming New York is unable to trade him before the start of the season, having him prove he can contribute as an offensive focal point on the second unit might boost his value league-wide, considering a contender trading for the veteran would likely view Fournier as a complimentary role player as opposed to a high-volume shooter. 

Thus, having Grimes replace Fournier in the starting unit makes sense on multiple levels. Let's see if it happens.