Quentin Grimes is ready to cash in on his hard work: ‘There is no gamble with Quentin’

Kelvin Sampson glanced out the window overlooking the University of Houston’s practice court, and spotted a familiar face.

Quentin Grimes was already on his second workout of the day, which has remained part of his offseason routine even four years since he left campus.

“He’ll spend the entire summer here,” Sampson said while discussing Grimes in a phone conversation with The Inquirer in late April. “Nobody outworks Quentin Grimes. I mean, nobody.”

Sampson, the Cougars’ head coach since 2014, has long enjoyed sharing Grimes’ story of the five-star recruit who struggled at Kansas, then transferred to Houston and developed into a first-round NBA draft pick. And Sampson will soon get to add another layer to Grimes’ journey, following the 25-year-old guard’s breakout stretch after being traded to the 76ers at the February deadline.

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Grimes went on explosive scoring tears and handled lead-guard playmaking, complementing his always-stout perimeter defense. He averaged 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.5 steals in 28 games, a rare positive development during the Sixers’ miserable season.

And the flash of skills could not have been better timed for Grimes, who is a restricted free agent when the negotiation period opens Monday evening. Grimes, who is 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds, can field contract offers from other teams, and the Sixers have the option to match and keep him on the roster.

“We’re excited for him to come back,” said Daryl Morey, the Sixers’ president of basketball operations, at his end-of-season news conference in mid-April. “We’ve positioned ourselves to bring him back.”

How did Grimes, selected 25th overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2021 after his junior season, put himself in line to receive this significant pay bump, and become a source of optimism about the Sixers’ backcourt future? By creating and maintaining foundational relationships. And rebuilding his confidence after adversity struck in college. And putting in the required work to seize his big chance.

“I know what I am. I know what I’m capable of,” Grimes told The Inquirer in April. “And you’ve got to be ready for your opportunity whenever your name’s called, and be ready for that moment. …

“I came into the league as a 3-and-D [player]. But I’ve always known I was more than that.”

Ben Perkins quickly recognized that Grimes was unique in a middle school. The professional player turned private trainer in the Houston area described Grimes as the first teenager who would “consistently call me and be like, ‘Coach, let’s get in the gym. Let’s work.’”

“Normally, nowadays,” Perkins told The Inquirer by phone last week, “the first thing that you have to try to instill in people and players at a young age is their competitiveness and their work ethic. But he already had that.”

That initially had been fostered within a sports-centric family. Grimes’ mother, Tonja Stelly, played basketball and tennis at Fort Hays State in Kansas. His older half-brother, Tyler Myers, will begin his 17th NHL season this fall. And Quentin’s father, Marshall Grimes, played basketball at Santa Clara and Louisiana-Lafayette in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Once Grimes mirrored that passion for basketball, he said his dad was “always in my ear.” Marshall tweaked Quentin’s jumpshot form in seventh grade, allowing him to sharply vault up and release from a high point with all wrist. He also put Quentin on the court with his older cousins, who would “really rough me up,” he said, creating that competitive edge.

“He threw me in the fire early,” Grimes said. “And then you kind of get a good understanding of how to compete. Because you’ve got to win every game. If you lose a game in Houston, you’re not going to get on the court.”

Grimes later linked with Perkins, who had recently finished his overseas career and was back working with his former AAU team and the renowned John Lucas camps. Since the work ethic already existed within the “little 5-foot-9 skinny kid,” Perkins concentrated on generating extra mental challenges for Grimes within each drill. For instance: Grimes needed to make eight out of 10 shot attempts before moving on to the next spot on the court, then 13 out of 15, then 18 out of 20.

“It was developing that process with never getting comfortable with where you are,” Perkins said. “Even though where you are is a good place. It was always really just challenging him to constantly push the bar and push himself more, and he ate it up.

“He was always a kid that would ask me, ‘What else do you think I can do? What more can I do?’ He was always ready and willing to do whatever he needed to do to take another step.”

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So it was unsurprising that, by the time Grimes arrived at College Park High School in The Woodlands, Texas, coach Clifton McNeely already recognized strong fundamentals in ballhandling, passing, and reading the court. After his freshman year of high school, Grimes took a break from AAU tournaments to further focus on developing his own game and physicality.

By the end of Grimes’ sophomore season, McNeely reached out to college coaches to say, “Hey, guys, I’ve got another one. He’s going to be a five-star recruit, and he’s going to go play in the NBA.”

Grimes ranked 13th in the 2018 recruiting class, per 24/7’s composite rankings, and continued to rack up big numbers, including a 52-point outburst as a senior. He became a McDonald’s All American, Texas’ Mr. Basketball, and a member of USA Basketball’s U18 team, where he played with future Sixers teammate Tyrese Maxey.

 Houston did not even attempt to recruit Grimes at the time, because that program was still in the earlier stages of its rebuild into one of college basketball’s best.

Grimes chose Kansas, one of the nation’s premier powerhouses. What followed were the most pivotal years of his basketball life.

Sampson believed that Grimes needed to “heal” after one season at Kansas. He had become a “worrier” because the external expectations as a blue-chip recruit turned into internal pressure — and dwindling on-court minutes. It was such an amicable departure from Lawrence, Sampson said, that Kansas coach Bill Self went above and beyond to assure Grimes that he would have immediate eligibility at Houston.

A team trip to Italy — where Grimes grew “loud … laughing and talking and hugging” as the Cougars moved from Rome, to Florence, to Milan and Lake Como — allowed Grimes to instantly connect with his teammates. But he still needed to rebuild his on-court confidence.

Then-assistant coach Quannas White, who today says he views Grimes like a second son, led individual sessions focused on repetition of in-game moves such as a pump fake into a two-dribble pull-up jumper. Grimes began his own routine of going through late-night workouts after games with Ryan Elvin, a walk-on who became one of his best friends.

Sampson and White also purposefully put Grimes into adverse situations in practice, aiming to distinguish the difference between playing hard and competing.

In one drill, Grimes had to float as a defender between guarding one player at the top of the key, then a second and third player on each wing — and achieve three stops in a row, or it would start over. In another, the basket was covered with a plastic “bubble” and every player was required to crash the boards after each shot.

Those priorities meant that, even after Grimes scored 24 points against South Carolina in one of his first games as a Cougar, Sampson criticized his seven turnovers “from just playing too fast.” Ditto for any game when Grimes did not have any rebounds at halftime, no matter how many points he scored.

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“When I say I was on him,” Sampson said, “I rode him harder than any kid I had had at Houston up to that point.”

Especially on the defensive end, a trademark of Sampson teams.

The coach saw potential in Grimes’ size and athleticism, which the player acknowledges he “didn’t really see at the time” in himself. He drilled techniques such as navigating how to get over screens or close out on shooters. He intensely picked up fullcourt in every practice, making games feel more like “coasting.”

Sampson knew that Grimes had turned a corner on that end of the floor when Texas Tech’s Terrence Shannon tried to shake Grimes and Grimes elevated to block his shot.

“Quentin got to a point where he hated getting scored on,” White added. “He had the mentality of, ‘I want to score as many points as I possibly can on the guy that’s guarding me,’ and then, on the defensive end, ‘I don’t want to allow you to score one point.’”

Today, Sampson looks back at a putback dunk that Grimes threw down during a practice as “the moment where everything clicked for him,” because “he started having fun doing something other than shooting the ball.” During a game against South Florida during Grimes’ junior season, White said the player’s confidence “surpassed where he was in high school.”

“He crosses halfcourt and he shoots a three from the logo and it goes in,” White said. “… He had another possession in that game, and he missed a shot, and he sprinted corner to corner, and he shot it again, and it went in.

“That game in particular stands out. That’s when I thought to myself, while I was sitting there on the bench, I said, ‘This kid is not only going to another level, but he’s going to get drafted.’”

That night arrived, with Sampson and White joining Grimes’ family and agent at a Houston-area hotel. When his name was called, at 25th overall, “the emotional response to that was just unbelievable,” Sampson said.

“That little boy that came on campus for that visit who didn’t believe in himself, wasn’t quite sure what was in store for him,” Sampson said. “To see him go from that guy to a first-round draft choice, I remember telling Quannas, ‘That’s why you coach.’”

Grimes now receives a text message from Perkins before and after each of his NBA games. The late-night note could be a simple praise or critique of his shot balance or playmaking. But the pregame message is always a reminder that Grimes has another opportunity to grow as a player — and demonstrate his value.

Those texts began immediately after Grimes joined the New York Knicks as a rookie, traded from the Clippers, when his role naturally changed. Then-Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau and Sampson possess a similar gruff, defensive style. But Thibodeau also had a longstanding reputation of rarely giving first-year players significant minutes.

Grimes knew that enthusiasm to guard would be his initial path to playing time. He and Perkins also discussed that he needed to maximize his small collection of catch-and-shoot attempts per game. Grimes leaned on veterans such as Kemba Walker, a former All-Star in the twilight of his career, and role player Evan Fournier for advice.

“I was picking up fullcourt. I made a couple shots,” Grimes said. “Just try to impact the game where [Thibodeau] could see that I was worthy of 10 minutes a game, or 15 minutes a game, at the time.”

Thibodeau began to trust Grimes with the defensive assignments on perimeter stars such as Jayson Tatum and Trae Young, causing his confidence to keep “growing and growing and growing.” He was part of the early stages of the Knicks’ current revitalization that, this season, reached the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years. During the 2022-23 season, Grimes averaged 11.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists while starting 66 of 71 games played.

And between seasons, Grimes returned to his Houston roots. McNeely chuckled to himself when Grimes still drove “the old beat-up car that he drove around in high school.” Grimes took the Cougars’ practice floor for those two daily workouts: one with Perkins focused on offensive skills, and one with White focused on defensive details. Also on the agenda: dinner and in-depth conversation with White at Steak 48, one of his favorite spots in town.

 During the 2023-24 season, Grimes recognized that there was a logjam at his position after the Knicks added Donte DiVincenzo in free agency. Grimes was traded to the lowly Detroit Pistons at the deadline — then played only six games for that team due to an injury — before signing with the Dallas Mavericks last summer.

» READ MORE: Quentin Grimes has shown he can score. The Sixers want to see if he’s well-rounded enough to mesh long-term.

Dallas was an ideal environment for Grimes to develop as a point guard.

Grimes called Jason Kidd, a Hall of Famer at that position, a players’ coach who did not harp on mistakes or turnovers so long as he gave maximum effort. Grimes observed how megastar Luka Dončić read the floor even when double-teamed, a task Grimes later faced once he arrived in Philly.

Grimes called perennial All-Star Kyrie Irving “the most skilled player I’ve ever seen,” which the veteran complemented with proper habits to take care of his body. And Grimes witnessed sharpshooter Klay Thompson’s unflappable mentality, that “he could go 0-for-10 or he could go 10-for-10, he was the same guy every day in practice.”

Three days after the Mavericks stunningly traded Dončić to the Lakers, Grimes was in the team hotel in Philly following the shootaround. Dallas general manager Nico Harrison called to tell Grimes he had been traded … to the Sixers.

“Well, I’m already here,” Grimes thought to himself. “I don’t have to go far at all.”

While watching the Sixers game against the Rockets on March 17 from his couch, a delighted Sampson said, “Go on, Q … do your thing,” as he poured in a career-high 46 points.

“Just watching his body language, how he owned it,” Sampson said. “Best player on the floor. Just killing. You almost want to get a little tear in your eye.”

Grimes had totaled 44 points against the Golden State Warriors less than three weeks prior, though he anticipated that naysayers would view that as a fluke. So it was fitting his career night arrived in his hometown. He also totaled at least 25 points 14 times — and played far more with the ball in his hands as an off-the-dribble scorer and distributor — while still taking on challenging perimeter defensive assignments.

“That’s really what made me proud,” Perkins said, “to see that no part of his game kind of diminished with the added opportunity offensively.”

As the season wound down, Grimes said he could “definitely” envision a future in Philly. He appreciates that fans hold teams and athletes “to a high standard” — and the restaurant scene as a self-proclaimed foodie.

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But while waiting for free agency to open, there is no surprise that Grimes was again back in Houston. He wanted to visit McNeely before retiring from coaching at College Park. He has focused in workouts with Perkins on scoring efficiency while adding to his offensive repertoire, such as strengthening his left-hand finish and floater, sharpening his footwork and appropriately initiating contact and separation from defenders.

Because Grimes took advantage of his big chance with the Sixers.

And now he is going to get paid.

“There are some guys that [say] it’s a gamble to invest in him,” Sampson said. “There is no gamble with Quentin. Make sure you do what you’ve got to do to keep him.”