School: Kansas
Year: Freshman
Height/Weight: 6’5, 210 lbs.
Strengths:
Quentin Grimes is one of the best spot up shooters in this upcoming draft. He has a pretty stroke and a quick enough release to be an effective catch and shoot player at the next level.
He can also handle the ball well for a two guard and possesses a strong ability to finish at the rim. Grimes is a very skilled all-around offensive player and has a high basketball IQ, giving him the potential to be a great scorer if he continues to develop his game.
Grimes’ size is also a major strength. At 6’5, 210 pounds, he already has the ideal size of an NBA shooting guard. He is also still very young and has room to add some muscle to his frame, which NBA teams will ensure happens under their watch.
Grimes has also shown flashes of excellent court vision and passing ability. He keeps his head up while driving the lane, and is able to make the right read on whether to shoot or dish it off to an open teammate when the defense converges on him.
Weaknesses:
Grimes is not a top notch athlete and he still has a long way to go on the defensive end to make it at the next level. He is still adjusting to guarding college players, which has resulted in less playing time as Bill Self can’t always trust him enough to keep him out there against other talented guards. This is a major concern to NBA front offices, and if he can’t show improvement as the season progresses, it is something that will cause him to slide down draft boards. It doesn’t help that he sometimes takes plays off, as effort plays a huge role in quality defense.
As I eluded to above, Grimes isn’t an exceptional athlete, and this hurts his game on the offensive end as well. His lack of quickness finds him struggling to create separation and get his own shot off against good defenders.
Future Outlook:
Grimes has had an interesting freshman season to say the least. He burst onto the scene right away in Kansas’ season opener versus Michigan State, scoring 21 points (including six three-pointers) and dishing out four assists. However, his play has dropped off since, largely due to a reduction in minutes stemming from his poor play on the defensive end.
The problem with Grimes’ sub-par athletic ability is that there’s only so much you can do to improve athleticism, so he will have to shoot the ball consistently and use his skill and high IQ to overcome this disadvantage throughout his entire career. I don’t foresee this as a huge issue on the offensive end, as defenses will have to respect his shooting and he can use shot fakes and head fakes to make plays when he doesn’t have the open shot right away. However, I’m not sure if he’ll be able to improve his defense well enough to get significant minutes at the next level.
Before stepping on campus this fall, Grimes was considered a potential lottery pick by many. I just don’t see that at the moment, but I think his shooting ability and offensive potential will still land him in the first round.
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