With the 2024-25 Sixers season officially in the rearview mirror, the time has come to evaluate the few highs and many lows of a disastrous campaign in which the team only managed 24 wins. We will do so in "Sixers year-in-review," a series assessing each individual Sixers player's performance this year based on numbers, film and quotes, while also looking ahead to the future.
Up next: Quentin Grimes.
Acquired from the Dallas Mavericks along with the return of the Sixers' 2025 second-round pick — now set at No. 35 overall — Grimes came to the Sixers in exchange for Caleb Martin, coveted by the Mavericks in the first season of the four-year deal he had inked to come to Philadelphia.
In two months and change with the Sixers, the 24-year-old Grimes completely changed the way people think of him. Grimes has always been known as a quality two-way role player, but proved with increased on-ball opportunities that he has genuine skill as a three-level scorer. Now, Grimes is set to become a restricted free agent.
SIXERS YEAR-IN-REVIEW
Joel Embiid | Guerschon Yabusele | Jared McCain | Andre Drummond
What we learned in 2024-25
Grimes can really, really, REALLY score the ball.
The Sixers traded for Grimes in large part because he is a high-level spot-up three-point shooter, which makes him an ideal fit around high-usage scorers. But with player after player going down with injuries, Grimes quickly began to see more on-ball chances. He swore that he was prepared to handle those duties in a way he had never been able to prove before, and that sentiment turned out to be on the money.
After beginning his Sixers tenure with a three-game stint on the bench to find his bearings, Grimes entered head coach Nick Nurse's starting five on Feb. 12 and made his final 25 appearances as a starter.
His numbers during that 25-game stretch, not exactly a tiny sample size: 23.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, while shooting 47.2 percent from the field, 38.1 percent from three-point territory on 8.1 long-range attempts per game (!) and 75.0 percent from the free throw line on 5.1 attempts per game. Those efficiency numbers lead to a stellar 59.6 true shooting percentage.
For Grimes to take his first chance to operate as a primary scorer in stride like this — combining massive volume with above-average efficiency — all while playing with a collection of new teammates, many of which were far from rotation-caliber players in the NBA, is a massive accomplishment in itself, even if that lackluster supporting cast prevented Grimes' scoring binges from translating to many wins.
Number to know
Grimes with the Sixers: 1.5 steals per game across 28 games.
There is significant evidence that Grimes' lengthy run of scoring was not an aberration. He is talented and can score at all three levels thanks to an excellent shooting stroke and improving finishing ability. But even if one decides to believe Grimes will crash down as a scorer next year, there remains even more significant evidence that he has what it takes to be one of the more valuable role players in the NBA. Grimes has proven to be a terrific three-point shooter on high volume with a wide variety of shots over his four years in the NBA, and no matter what his offensive role has been or what team he is on, Grimes has been a positive-impact defender.
The latest example: despite handling a much greater offensive workload than he ever has before and learning how to do so successfully on the fly, Grimes found a way to take his defensive playmaking up a notch. He has always been a player whose defensive impact is more clear on film than in a box score, but suddenly he found a way to nab steals for the Sixers far more consistently, which bodes well for his future in Nurse's system which encourages aggressiveness.
MORE: Sixers' odds of keeping top-6 protected first-rounder, winning lottery
Important film
The variety within Grimes' defensive production was perhaps the most encouraging aspect of it all. He nabbed steals hounding ball-handlers, he jumped passing lanes and he found avenues to gamble with timely double-teams for steals. Grimes had a long streak of games with at least 25 points and two steals every night which was particularly impressive:
Quentin Grimes has scored 25-points in seven consecutive games, but he has also notched at least two steals in each of those contests.
Some of Grimes' best takeaways lately: pic.twitter.com/7IUuV6Bn6w— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) March 23, 2025
It is also worth noting that Grimes was able to experience a major uptick in defensive playmaking despite his offensive workload being massively higher than it ever has been in the NBA before and his supporting cast largely being comprised of fringe rotation players or worse.
MORE: Which midseason Sixers additions will return?
Salient soundbite
Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey, unprompted, on Grimes during his exit interview last week with head coach Nick Nurse:
"I did want to mention Quentin Grimes. I think he was a real bright spot. We're excited for him to come back. We've positioned ourselves to bring him back. He had multiple 40-point performances, his defense we think really fits well with Tyrese, we think he's a very good fit there. And we think with Joel [Embiid], Paul [George] and Tyrese, he's a very good fit."
Question heading into the future
Can Grimes slide up the positional spectrum on defense and handle wing assignments?
If the answer is yes, the Sixers could create one hell of a trio of perimeter scorers capable of potentially playing together long-term in Grimes, Maxey and Jared McCain. It may be a stretch in the short-term to expect those three players to start alongside each other or even play many minutes with each other. But if the Sixers put Grimes on a developmental plan geared towards bulking up and becoming more comfortable defending above his size and it works out, they could be far better off in the long run offensively.
Grimes is only listed at 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds, but he is strong with a decent wingspan that has enabled him to handle wing assignments on occasion so far, even if he is at his best defending other guards. When asked at their exit interview if there is confidence those three players could all be building blocks moving forward, Morey expressed confidence but said the basketball strategy driving it would be up to Nurse. Nurse's response implied, at least next season, he will likely be staggering the minutes of those three guards, with McCain and Grimes likely doubling as backup point guards.
Contract information
Grimes will be a restricted free agent this offseason, which means a deal he signs with another team can be matched by the Sixers, who would have a 48-hour window to match any offer sheet once Grimes puts pen to paper.
MORE: One team could stand in the way of Sixers keeping Grimes
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