I know Knicks fans are bored waiting for the season to start, but I think people are forgetting just how good defensively Quentin Grimes was in his 2nd season in the NBA. So I wanted to present some stats just to show how elite Grimes was last season.
Grimes made a huge [leap defensive](https://x.com/the_bball_index/status/1664089382020857857?s=46) last season and lead the entire league in [matchup difficulty.](https://x.com/the_bball_index/status/1641809365312188416?s=46)
How big was it to lead the league in matchup difficulty? By the numbers Grimes had the [3rd highest matchup difficulty season in the past decade!](https://x.com/the_bball_index/status/1648721870420692992?s=46). Thibs was really leaning on Grimes to guard every single player at a near historic rate. So how did Grimes do in his assignments?
Opponents only shot [31.4% // 0.72 PPP](https://x.com/nba_university/status/1682768823588364290?s=46) in ISO when Grimes was guarding them. In comparison opponents shot [45.2% // 0.86 PPP](https://www.nba.com/stats/players/isolation?CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*Jrue&PerMode=Totals&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&TypeGrouping=defensive&dir=-1&sort=PPP) against Jrue Holiday in ISO.
This is due to the fact that Grimes is a [versatile defender](https://x.com/nba_university/status/1626944602983858177?s=46) who can matchup with nearly every position in the NBA, while Jrue is mainly effective against guards and gets bullied by wings.
We saw this in the playoffs in the first round where Jimmy Butler averaged [56.5%!](https://www.nba.com/stats/player/201950/head-to-head?SeasonType=Playoffs) against Jrue on 46 FGA
Meanwhile Grimes was able to hold [Donovan Mitchell to 27% in the first round and then held Jimmy 30.8% shooting when matched-up with him in the second round.](https://www.nba.com/stats/player/201950/head-to-head?SeasonType=Playoffs)
Now I know some of you will argue that Jimmy was injured but this tracks to the regular season where Jrue usually gets abused by [big wings](https://www.nba.com/stats/player/201950/head-to-head?SeasonType=Regular+Season) (Butler 50 FG%, Tatum 71.4 FG%, Lavine 57.1%). While Grimes [holds his own](https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1629656/head-to-head?SeasonType=Regular%20Season&dir=D&sort=MATCHUP_FGA)(Butler 43.8 FG%, Tatum 38.9 FG%, 47.6%)
Now this doesn’t mean that Grimes is better than Jrue or that Jrue doesn’t offer other attributes than Grimes that make him a better all-around defender (off-ball defense, passing lane navigation, veteran savvy, etc.), but it does show that Grimes had an elite impact as just a 2nd year player. To trade or bench Grimes for Jrue who is more than a decade older and doesn’t even offer an upgrade offensively does not seem to be the wise moves that this front office likes to make.
Grimes needs all the reps and minutes he can get and I can’t wait for the season to start to see his next chapter as a Knicks starter.
by asapfetty
9 Comments
But…*here me out*….what if you put Jrue and Grimes in the lineup together and slide Grimes to the 3?
Quentin Grimes is a fucking Dawg and I want him to ascend and grow as a long time Knickerbocker.
We didn’t want to trade Grimes for Donovan Mitchell, we’re obviously not throwing him in for Jrue. You want more Grimes reps, RJ is the guy to look at…
Salary, age, position and defense-wise Jrue isn’t a good fit for us. We need forwards not guards.
this is a very good post.
optimistic, but supported by facts
agreed on Grimes..
i dont really understand the rhetoric that Knicks should add Jrue.. Jrue has been one of my favorite players since i love 2 way players but guard is just not a position we need to invest in at this point..
seems like classic knicks for clicks or knicks for leverage
The grimes for jrue is criminal, I’m still an adamant no but you can almost see the rj logic.
Damn yo I was about to start throwing around hot takes along the lines of “is 33 year old Jrue Holiday really even more valuable to our team than Quentin Grimes?” hot takes and here you are giving substance to my nonsense.
Picked a good day to wear the grimes jersey I guess.
I don’t disagree with the conclusion but fyi the matchup data is pretty bad and you pretty much shouldn’t use % shot against as a defensive metric unless we’re talking about attempts at the basket
For example idk exactly how the tracking data defines ISOs, but it has Grimes down as defending 64 possessions and Jrue 44, across the whole season.