The Los Angeles Lakers' tough 121-116 road win over the Detroit Pistons offered a ton of positives to smile about. One of the genuine sore spots from the victory was the injury to Quentin Grimes. Before the game was over, the Lakers wing exited the matchup with an ailment to his hand.
Good news: there was clarity about it being a finger injury and JJ Redick said the x-rays came back negative. That should mean Grimes can return as soon as the matchup against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday. Assuming his exit in the fourth quarter against the Pistons was mostly a false alarm, that should be on the table.
If the Lakers want to be cautious, and they have exercised that type of action with the likes of Luka Doncic, they do have a reasonable fallback plan that should allow Grimes to rest. That would involve turning to Cameron Carr for minutes off the bench.
Lakers can afford to manage Quentin Grimes' injury accordingly thanks to Cameron Carr
There was a lot of offseason hype about Carr and how quickly he could prove to be a draft steal for the Lakers. Through 11 games, that has yet to materialize.
Carr has only appeared in three of those contests thus far for the Lakers. It has been nothing more than garbage time for him. Even then, we are talking about a miniscule 1.3 minutes per game.
That is why Carr recently found himself getting sent down to the G League to join the Coachella Valley Lakers. Lakers reporter Khobi Price noted Redick's message to him and Bronny James (who went with the rookie wing) was the need for reps. They were not getting them with Los Angeles.
If there was ever a time for that to change in Carr's case, it would be now.
Grimes is an important player for the Lakers. Even amid an underwhelming shooting start to the season, the recently-signed contributor has still been highly effective on the defensive end to go with modest scoring production. Los Angeles would be wise to prioritize his long-term health.
If there is any indication of the finger injury being more of a concern than initially thought, the Lakers have no reason to force Grimes to play through it. They have the depth to give him time off. It even comes with the added bonus of getting Carr his first real NBA minutes to learn and develop from.
The Lakers are tied for the most games played of any team at this early point of the 2026-27 NBA season. That can take a toll. Being overly cautious is not a bad thing in these circumstances.
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