Los Angeles Lakers guard Quentin Grimes has missed the last two games with a sprained pinky finger, but he practiced on Friday with the finger wrapped. This leads one to the assumption that Grimes should be okay to play on Sunday when the Lakers (11-2) take on the 5-6 Phoenix Suns at Mortgage Matchup Center.
Grimes told reporters on Friday that “the [finger] swelling has gone down a lot ... it's kind of feeling basically back to normal.”
Quentin Grimes (finger) sounds ready to return to the Lakers' lineup
While Grimes was out, Cameron Carr and Adou Thiero received an uptick in minutes on the wing. Neither player had an explosive performance in either of the last two games, but they each played well enough for fans to want to see more.
I'd personally like to see some of Grimes' minutes go to Carr (even when Grimes is fully healthy). I'm not a huge believer that Grimes makes this Lakers team better, particularly offensively, and there are some stats to support that feeling.
At the most basic level, Grimes' 24.2 percentage from 3 is a poor fit with Luka Doncic. And looking a bit deeper, while Grimes is solid enough defensively (with an on/off defensive rating of +5.4), the Lakers' offense appears to be worse with Grimes on the floor, as his on/off offensive rating is -6.9.
The Lakers are arguably a better team without Quentin Grimes
I've never been one to base a basketball argument entirely on stats alone. The other thing about Grimes is that the eye-test tells you that he isn't on the same level as Ziaire Williams or Matisse Thybulle when it comes to being a great wing fit on this Lakers team.
The bad shooting is a big part of that, but so is the fact that Grimes isn't that long or tall for a wing, limiting his defensive versatility.
Listen: Grimes plays really hard and aggressive at all times. He's also capable of changing a game when he goes on a spurt of multiple steals, or when he catches fire from 3. But these instances are few and far between.
It's still early in the season, but I think Grimes was a dud signing for Lakers GM Rob Pelinka in the offseason, and by that token, I predict that it'll eventually make sense for the Lakers to trade Grimes.
It's good that Grimes is healthy again, but it also would've been nice to see the Lakers play a few more games without him, just to continue to evaluate how Carr looks in an increased role. The Lakers have 60 million reasons to keep prioritizing Grimes' minutes, but that doesn't mean it's the right basketball decision.
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