Quentin Grimes wants to bring a winning culture to the league-worst Detroit Pistons.
It’s the mission he’s taken upon himself after the trade sending him from a playoff-bound Knicks team to the draft lottery-headed Pistons.
Grimes said he knew two days before the Feb. 8 NBA Trade Deadline he would be on the move but was unsure where he would ultimately end up.
His new team owned the NBA’s worst record last season, holds it again this season and could very well finish league-worst next season, too.
Grimes wants to change the narrative. He and his new head coach Monty Williams are in lockstep with the goal.
The Pistons haven’t made the playoffs since 2019, tied with the San Antonio Spurs for the second-longest active playoff drought behind the Charlotte Hornets, who will make it eight years without a postseason appearance by the end of this season.
“Just coming from the Knicks from the past few years having a lot of wins, I’m just trying to come in and bring some of the habits that I learned under [head coach Tom Thibodeau], and try to bring a winning culture, try to get it restored and uplift everything,” Grimes said during Monday morning shootaround at Madison Square Garden. “The only place you can go is up right now with this team. So just try to come in, me and Evan, Evan’s been a winner for a lot of years in this league, so just try to come in and bring some winning habits to this young team.”
WRITING WAS ON THE WALL
Grimes saw the writing on the wall. He didn’t just know he’d be traded but he felt it. The breadcrumbs were apparent.
For starters, his relationship with head coach Tom Thibodeau decayed year-over-year. Last season, Thibodeau bumped Grimes into the starting lineup and touted his capabilities as a budding, young three-and-D wing.
In fact, reports suggest the Knicks went as far as making Grimes untouchable in trade negotiations with the Cleveland Cavaliers for All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell.
Grimes doesn’t buy it. After all, the Knicks abruptly moved him for two players far well beneath Mitchell’s superstar status: Bojan Bogdanovic, a 20-point-per-game scorer; and Alec Burks, a versatile wing who’d previously played under Thibs.
Valuable additions? Yes, but hardly the superstar the Knicks reportedly refused to part ways with Grimes for.
“They try to label you untouchable and stuff like that, and that from a media standpoint is how it goes. Donovan is a guy you try to get, and everybody knows if somebody wants you, they’re gonna try to do whatever they can to get you,” he said. “So if they’re gonna keep one guy out of the deal, then that’s just how it goes. So it’s the media stirring things around for sure. It is what it is. You can’t just label one guy because obviously there’s other guys in the deal if it woulda been.
Grimes said he’s unsure where things went south with his relationship with Thibodeau.
“It’s understandable just knowing the relationship last year was different than it was this year. But it’s all love,” he said. “It wasn’t like how it was last year, but sometimes it goes like that.”
He also said the competition at his position played a factor in him falling out of favor.
The Knicks signed Donte DiVincenzo to a four-year deal with Grimes entering the third year of his rookie contract.
Thibodeau decreed Grimes the starter entering training camp but also said it was open competition. And after Grimes griped about his role in early December, Thibodeau bumped DiVincenzo into the starting lineup.
“I think you kinda know because he’s a good player, so you’ve got to find minutes for him for sure, but that’s kinda how the NBA works sometimes,” said Grimes. “A lot of good players in the NBA. On a good team, you’ve gotta find minutes for everybody. It is what it is sometimes.”
Last season, Grimes played a key role on an injury-ridden Knicks team. To start this season, the Knicks were healthy and deep at his position.
“Just a lot more players, a lot more depth at my position, stuff like that,” he said. “Kinda last year I knew Jalen [Brunson] was sitting a lot of games, so I was gonna end up with a lot more opportunity. But coming into this season for the most part we had a healthy roster and a lot of minutes to distribute.”
BOTH SIDES HAPPY
The Pistons were happy to acquire a young player who has potential to do more than he’d shown in New York.
That’s the bet Detroit appears to have made — Grimes being more than just a spot-up shooter and gritty perimeter defender.
“Same thing you saw here: toughness, shot-making for sure. We feel like he can do more as far as handling the ball and making plays, that’s something we wanted to explore,” said head coach Monty Williams.
Grimes has already been working with longtime NBA point guard Jarrett Jack, who is an assistant on Williams’ staff. This offseason, he spent time training with both Penny Hardaway and J.J. Redick.
“Jarrett Jack, having a guy who’s played and he’s able to be with me every day watching film already,” he said. “Good to get back in the flow, having someone in your ear pushing you every day to go out there and play your game, be who you are. That’s gonna help me for sure.”
Williams also values Grimes’ history, which includes pit stops with two no-nonsense head coaches: Kelvin Sampson at Houston and, of course, Thibodeau.
“I value guys that come from programs like Houston. After Coach Sampson, I’m a walk in the park,” he said. “I can’t imagine going from Houston to Thibs — I’d better stop there. … I learned a lot from that dude. I don’t think he’s appreciated the way he needs to be. I hear all the ‘he’s rough and gruff’ and all that. That guy has an unreal mind for the game and he cares about people and players like no one I’ve ever been around so I appreciate my time with him.”
Grimes is part of a rebuild. The Pistons entered Monday’s matchup against the Knicks with eight games won to 48 lost. Hardly a situation anyone wants to inherit — but Grimes sees an opportunity.
Not just to expand his game on a young, feisty Pistons team, but also to help drag the franchise from the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
“I think I know what it is. Me and Monty already talked about it,” he said. “They weren’t gonna trade for me if I wasn’t coming in to be one of the [core] players on the team. So I think everybody knows their role for sure.”