Mavericks' brilliant trade for Quentin Grimes continues to get overlooked

After the Dallas Mavericks lost the 2024 NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics in five games, one move seemed guaranteed for the team.

Trading Tim Hardaway Jr.

Dallas began shopping Hardaway Jr. early in the offseason, and they traded him to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Quentin Grimes. Both Hardaway Jr. and the Mavs needed to move on following his rough performance throughout the second half of the season and playoffs, and Grimes looks like he is going to be an excellent fit.

Quentin Grimes' impact in Dallas will be bigger than everyone expects

Grimes is a better defender than Hardaway Jr. and is also eight years younger, but Dallas' trade for Grimes continues to get undermined and overlooked.

Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes published a story about "reasons to love and hate," every NBA team's offseason, and his reasoning to love Dallas' offseason was "the Tim Hardaway Jr. salary dump." Hughes dove into how trading Hardaway Jr. was crucial as it helped the Mavs gain enough cap space to sign Klay Thompson and get under the first apron but didn't talk much about Grimes and his potential impact.

Dallas getting rid of Hardway Jr.'s contract was an essential part of the offseason that helped them land both Thompson and Naji Marshall, but Grimes deserves some recognition for his potential impact going into next season.

Grimes can guard multiple positions, knock down open shots, and create for himself off the bounce. He is more skilled than people give him credit for, and he is in a great spot to be a high-end role player for the Mavs next season.

Last season for the New York Knicks and Pistons, Grimes had a down year compared to his first two seasons in the NBA. Grimes averaged 7.0 points per game while shooting 37.2 percent from the field and 33.8 percent from downtown, and his shooting numbers should rise now that he's playing with Luka Doncic.

Grimes is going to be getting outstanding looks, and he won't be asked to do too much. He seems motivated to continue to be a lockdown defender in Dallas, and he always embraces the challenge of guarding the other team's best player.

Grimes doesn't back down from anyone, and his quickness allows him to full-court press and pester opposing ball handlers. This was a specialty of Josh Green's, and Grimes should pick up where he left off smoothly.

Grimes and Marshall are poised to be Dallas' two best defenders at the point of attack next season, and Grimes' play off the bench for the Mavs will quickly get noticed once the season kicks off. This move was definitely one that flew under the radar when it happened, but Grimes has the skills to make a big impact for the Mavs next season.

Most people continue to focus on Dallas being able to dump Hardaway Jr.'s salary in the trade for Grimes, which was a great move on its own, but fans will quickly see that getting back Grimes in this trade was also a huge win by the Mavs.