The Los Angeles Lakers gave Quentin Grimes a $60 million contract this summer to be the type of player he's never been in his career; not consistently, anyway. It's arguably the biggest risk that Lakers GM Rob Pelinka is sweating over entering 2026-27, along with having thrown $130 million at Walker Kessler, who played in five NBA games last season and has never experienced postseason basketball.
It's not hard to defend the Kessler signing. The Lakers needed a rim protector, and he was the best one available. Plus, he's young. The Grimes signing makes you scratch your head far more vigorously. Why is this guy the fourth-highest-paid player on the Lakers at the moment?
Will the Quentin Grimes signing makes the Lakers look foolish?
It won't if Grimes becomes the best version of himself in a Lakers uniform. And what does that look like, exactly? A two-way wing who is good enough to start on almost any NBA team. An elite point-of-attack perimeter defender. A reliable open jump shooter off the catch.
But as aforementioned, Grimes has never sustained that identity for an extended period. It's why he's bounced around the league in six seasons. Teams see the potential and then get frustrated by the erratic production. The Philadelphia 76ers got sick of Grimes' 33.4% from 3 last season, and the Lakers will, too, if he's that inaccurate again.
Even so, no matter how bad Grimes plays between Opening Night and February, the Lakers absolutely won't trade him. That's because doing so would make the front office look inadequate for having signed Grimes to an overpay, in the first place.
The Lakers can't give up Quentin Grimes right away (for optics reasons)
In this sense, Grimes is holding the reins of the Lakers' wing play in 2026-27. If he isn't who the Lakers are paying him to become, LA won't accomplish big things next season, and that's that. He has an unwritten and unofficial no-trade clause, at least for this season (as I just explained) ... so he simply has to perform, if you're looking at the situation through Pelinka's lens.
If Grimes struggles in November and December, prepare to hear Pelinka and JJ Redick preach to the press about Grimes' "adjustment period" with the Lakers. It's all prepped and ready to go. If he's still stinking it up in January, Luka Doncic might even take some public blame.
So much rests on Grimes' shoulders this season, and he's never carried this sort of responsibility. Had the Lakers gone out and acquired another starter-level wing like Jonathan Kuminga, Grimes wouldn't be as consequential. But here we are. It's tough to feel overly optimistic about the situation, but maybe this is when Grimes will put it all together.
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