Nico Harrison's second-worst blunder is somehow helping the Mavericks now

To open the summer of 2024, Nico Harrison and the Dallas Mavericks' front office finally decided to trade Tim Hardaway Jr. for Quentin Grimes in essentially a straight-up swap for the defensive-minded shooting guard. While there were some second-round picks thrown in to entice the Detroit Pistons to swap a younger guard for an older player coming off one of his worst playoff performances, the Mavericks would eventually find their two-way guard of the future.

From the jump, it was clear that Grimes was a different caliber of player that the Mavericks hadn't seen before, aside from just letting go of Josh Green in a similar deal. There's no doubt that Grimes and Green had shared some characteristics, but Grimes was by far and away the better product on both ends of the floor, which gained him plenty of attention headed into a contract year.

With contract talks looming, Harrison would decide to trade Grimes at the 2025 trade deadline to the Philadelphia 76ers for Caleb Martin. This trade would not only instantly hit the Mavericks in the worst way possible, as it was clear that Martin was not fit to play on an NBA floor due to injury, but Grimes would go on an all-time heater, which would result in the current situation that Grimes and the 76ers are in with his contract.

Mavericks' decision to trade Grimes has surprisingly aged well

There's no doubt that when Harrison decided to pull the trigger on a Grimes for Martin swap just days after trading away Luka Doncic, it came as a second heart pull to fans. Grimes had become a beloved figure on this Mavericks squad, and while injuries would plague the season, Grimes emerged as one of the few players who took control of the moment and proved to the fans he had what it took to be a building block in Dallas' future.

After being traded to Philadelphia, Grimes would only put his foot to the pedal even harder in a contract year. With Philadelphia, Grimes would reach all-time highs on both ends of the floor and would end up averaging 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game in his 28 games in a 76ers uniform.

Grimes would not only emerge as a bright spot for Philly in one of their worst seasons in over a decade, but by the first week of being a Sixer, he would make the Mavericks pay for trading him.

Looking to the future, Grimes knew he was going to garner a lot of attention on the open market, but due to him being a restricted free agent, it would require a sign-and-trade type deal to get Grimes playing for another team. While sigh-and-trades are few and hard to come by, the Sixers could have still offered the free agent a worthy contract.

By all signs, Grimes has been asking for over the price of a contract that would be worth giving to the 25-year-old, which is why he still has yet to be signed. At this point in the offseason, just about zero teams have the cap space to give Grimes the desired amount of money he has been asking for, which is why the Mavericks appear to now be winning this trade for the time being.

Grimes could very easily enter this year on a one-year prove-it type contract, which would immediately eliminate any doubt that the Sixers or Grimes had, but after the season Grimes would produce with the Sixers, it's hard not to give Grimes a little extra.

The initial package of Grimes and a second-round pick for Martin and an even worse second-rounder has still gone down as one of the worst trades in Harrison's tenure with the Mavericks, but it is clear, the Mavericks dodged an incoming bullet with Grimes' contract negotiations.