Maximizing the growing trade market isn’t the only way the Los Angeles Lakers could succeed this offseason.
The unrestricted free-agent market will present the storied Western Conference organization with opportunities to sign assets who could be valuable role players in JJ Redick’s system in Los Angeles.
Reuniting Luka Doncic with a former Dallas Mavericks fan-favorite guard is a move that CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn floated in a recent article.
“The three-and-D side of the equation is a bit better, though by no means perfect,” Quinn wrote Tuesday. Quentin Grimes is probably the best the market has to offer, and he's enough of a ball-handler to potentially help pick up some of the duties James would cede upon his eventual exit.”
“He's probably gettable for slightly above the mid-level exception. The 76ers tend to prefer ducking the tax, and such a deal would take them above the line even before considering a new deal for Kelly Oubre Jr.”
Grimes and Doncic were teammates in Dallas during the 2024-25 season. Of course, their partnership was ultimately cut short, as the Mavericks traded Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers and Grimes to the 76ers before the deadline.
Grimes’ confident off-the-dribble/catch-and-shoot shotmaking helped him start his fifth campaign on a positive note, as he averaged a then-career best 10.2 points on 46.3% field goal shooting and 39.8% three-point shooting in 47 games with the Mavericks.
Grimes carried that momentum into the second half of the year, resulting in a head-turning 21.9 points per game average with the 76ers (he connected on 46.9% of his field goals and 37.3% of his long-range jump shots.
In 75 games with Philadelphia this season, the Houston product contributed 13.4 points nightly while shooting 45.0% from the field and 33.4% from three.
If the Lakers express interest in signing a second-unit spark plug who can positively alter games instantly, they should look no further than Grimes this summer.
More NBA news: