If you paid attention at all to the second half of the Philadelphia 76ers' 2024-25 season, you witnessed Quentin Grimes become a borderline star with his late-season surge. But as optimism around Grimes grows among the Sixers' fanbase, expectations may need to be tempered just a bit for next year's campaign.
The reason I say that revolves around the value Philly fans are placing on this new-look version of Grimes, and how many of them came to this conclusion. Yes, Quentin did look like an almost All-Star caliber player from the time that he arrived with the 76ers in early February until the end of the season in April. But this is about properly contextualizing the entire situation.
As of right now, it's still clear that Philadelphia won the trade with the Dallas Mavericks. That much remains true. However, when we look at the situation Grimes entered into toward the end of last season that allowed him to thrive so much, we can see that it's simply not one that exists any longer.
Grimes won't necessarily have the same opportunity as before
Grimes carved his way into Sixers fans' hearts with his sharp shooting, driving ability and off-ball movement that led to him dominating for weeks on end. Quentin averaged 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists in his first 28 games with the 76ers. What's important to note is that he did it with the majority of Philly's top rotation players out of commission.
Let's be clear what I mean by pointing this out. Am I saying now that Joel Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey and others are going to (in theory) be back in the rotation, Grimes has no shot at duplicating his previous efforts? No, that's not my point at all. But I am saying it's going to be significantly more difficult to reach those heights on a consistent basis.
As the old saying goes, there's only one basketball. As these other talented rotation players make their return, there's naturally going to be less touches for the likes of Grimes. With that said, he did display quite a bit of off-ball skill last year, so there's still an avenue for him to play his game and thrive.
So of course the 76ers' stars coming back isn't going to bury Quentin Grimes. But I'm just saying maybe we should pump the brakes when we start to think about him as a potential All-Star for next season. Realistic expectations are good expectations, and I still believe Grimes can have a solid year.