When the Philadelphia 76ers traded Jared McCain, they effectively committed to re-signing Quentin Grimes this summer. The New York Knicks were smart to avoid that mistake. Although Grimes is a good player, he’s clearly the product of the minutes he’s given, whereas McCain has been thriving with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Grimes is inconsistent. He shows flashes of potential, but then, he’ll go through a stretch where he struggles to score the ball. The Knicks traded him midway through his third season with the team, shipping him to the Detroit Pistons. The Sixers decided to trade McCain instead of Grimes, and that already looks like a big mistake.
A mistake the Knicks smartly avoided.
76ers doubled down on Grimes (but the Knicks avoided that decision)
When the Sixers acquired Grimes last year, he immediately showed out. He looked like a potential long-term piece for the 76ers, so it made sense that they wanted to keep him around.
However, they were unable to come to a deal in free agency, so Grimes signed the qualifying offer. That means he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason.
So, by trading McCain, the 76ers ensured their long-term books would be relatively clear enough to bring Grimes back. But he hasn’t been the same player he was last year.
With Tyrese Maxey fully healthy, rookie VJ Edgecombe looking like a star, and Joel Embiid actually being able to play for stretches, Grimes has taken a step back in regard to his minutes.
And with that, his efficiency has gotten a tad worse, and his scoring isn’t nearly what it was last year during his 28 games in Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, as noted, McCain has blossomed into a legitimate rotation piece for the defending champions. He looks like the player he was before he got hurt in his rookie season with the 76ers.
The Knicks didn’t keep Grimes around long enough to make that mistake. He had a great season in New York during the 2022-23 season, but halfway through the following season, the Knicks traded him.
His efficiency dipped, and instead of keeping him around, they traded him to the Detroit Pistons in a deal that landed them Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks.
Although neither of those players ever did too much in New York, it was still smart of the Knicks to give Grimes up when they did. Because now, the 76ers seem to be in a similar situation, and they already traded a promising young player in order to keep Grimes around.