RealGM

Strengths
Immense amount of respect for the way he’s completely refashioned his game. When he came up in basketball, he was a lead guard with creative handle as he made plays happen on the court. He’s now solidly a 3-and-D player. Made a ton of 3s this past year at over a 40 percent clip. Not sure he’s quite that good as a shooter, but great when he gets rolling. Always prepped and ready to fire off the catch. Can take them off the hop or off of a step into it. Balance throughout the shot is terrific. Legitimately quick release. Immense confidence in that part of his game now after coming up as a non-shooter. Makes them off of screening actions and movement. He’s a genuine plus shooter now. Defensively, did a really nice job in the AAC in sliding and staying in front of opposing players. Absolutely terrific at contesting shots. Really takes pride on that end now. Short, choppy steps on aggressive closeouts that allow him to stay engaged on the ball but also be ready to contest. Really good preparation it seems. Does a great job of knowing where opposing players’ tendencies are and cutting those off. Very strong through his torso, allowing him to absorb contact through drives. Doesn’t force a crazy number of turnovers but does a good job off the ball of staying attached. Also still has some of those point guard skills to his game when he has an advantage to attack. If a guy comes out heavy to him, still has a tight enough handle to attack the basket. Bit more shake than your typical 3-and-D guy. Might be enough there to be a secondary ballhandler, but more likely than not going to be limited to catching and firing. Has some step-back to his game from behind the college line. And while he’s not an amazing passer who makes high-level reads, can make some good ones.

Weaknesses
Not a great athlete. A bit slow. Can’t get by anyone. Very stiff. Doesn’t really have any change of direction skill because of that stiffness through his hips. This is what kind of doomed his career as a point guard. Couldn’t separate from even college-level defenders consistently. Worry that he’ll struggle to do that even against NBA wings. While he’s very active, wouldn’t say he has tremendous lateral quickness. Could have some defensive worries against quicker, more agile guards. Could limit his overall defensive effectiveness. As a 3-and-D guy, made just 30.3 percent from 25 feet and beyond, so he’s much, much more comfortable at the collegiate 3-point line right now. Will need to prove he can consistently make them from NBA range. Also has no in-between game or ability to get to the rim right now outside of jumpers at the college 3-point line. Zero floater game and zero game in between on pull-ups. Has gotten good at the side-step 3 off a relocation, but can he consistently make shots from distance? Got to the basket for under two attempts per game in the halfcourt, a large portion of which came on put-back attempts. The tape from college says he doesn’t really have much game as a distributor. Loose ballhandler. Not a secondary ballhandler at all that can create something out of nothing. Needs that immediate advantage. In that vein, he was pretty bad out of ball screens this year. Had a weird number of just wildly inaccurate passes that got either deflected or that just flew out of bounds. Is just a pure 3-and-D guy with some passing acumen out of heavy closeouts. Having said that, he really showed improved capacity in this regard at the NBA Draft Combine.

Summary
Grimes’ basketball trajectory would have knocked down lesser human beings. Very few five-star prospects come back from the brink, completely change their games and reinvent themselves in this way. For this to happen, it must have taken quite a bit of humbling himself, and a true willingness to put in work. This is the reason I absolutely wouldn’t bet against Grimes carving out a career in the NBA. He’s shown the capacity to improve, and to scale the adversity that absolutely meets every player at some point in their young career. But he is a limited guy to an extent, and he’s a 3-and-D player that hasn’t quite yet hit shots yet from behind the NBA line. But he’s got a real shot to be useful defensively, and if the shot continues to develop at this level, he could become a really valuable role player. He just needs to keep progressing in the way he processes the game.

HEZI wrote:

SelbyCobra wrote:From The Athletic's pre-draft reports:

Strengths
Immense amount of respect for the way he’s completely refashioned his game. When he came up in basketball, he was a lead guard with creative handle as he made plays happen on the court. He’s now solidly a 3-and-D player. Made a ton of 3s this past year at over a 40 percent clip. Not sure he’s quite that good as a shooter, but great when he gets rolling. Always prepped and ready to fire off the catch. Can take them off the hop or off of a step into it. Balance throughout the shot is terrific. Legitimately quick release. Immense confidence in that part of his game now after coming up as a non-shooter. Makes them off of screening actions and movement. He’s a genuine plus shooter now. Defensively, did a really nice job in the AAC in sliding and staying in front of opposing players. Absolutely terrific at contesting shots. Really takes pride on that end now. Short, choppy steps on aggressive closeouts that allow him to stay engaged on the ball but also be ready to contest. Really good preparation it seems. Does a great job of knowing where opposing players’ tendencies are and cutting those off. Very strong through his torso, allowing him to absorb contact through drives. Doesn’t force a crazy number of turnovers but does a good job off the ball of staying attached. Also still has some of those point guard skills to his game when he has an advantage to attack. If a guy comes out heavy to him, still has a tight enough handle to attack the basket. Bit more shake than your typical 3-and-D guy. Might be enough there to be a secondary ballhandler, but more likely than not going to be limited to catching and firing. Has some step-back to his game from behind the college line. And while he’s not an amazing passer who makes high-level reads, can make some good ones.

Weaknesses
Not a great athlete. A bit slow. Can’t get by anyone. Very stiff. Doesn’t really have any change of direction skill because of that stiffness through his hips. This is what kind of doomed his career as a point guard. Couldn’t separate from even college-level defenders consistently. Worry that he’ll struggle to do that even against NBA wings. While he’s very active, wouldn’t say he has tremendous lateral quickness. Could have some defensive worries against quicker, more agile guards. Could limit his overall defensive effectiveness. As a 3-and-D guy, made just 30.3 percent from 25 feet and beyond, so he’s much, much more comfortable at the collegiate 3-point line right now. Will need to prove he can consistently make them from NBA range. Also has no in-between game or ability to get to the rim right now outside of jumpers at the college 3-point line. Zero floater game and zero game in between on pull-ups. Has gotten good at the side-step 3 off a relocation, but can he consistently make shots from distance? Got to the basket for under two attempts per game in the halfcourt, a large portion of which came on put-back attempts. The tape from college says he doesn’t really have much game as a distributor. Loose ballhandler. Not a secondary ballhandler at all that can create something out of nothing. Needs that immediate advantage. In that vein, he was pretty bad out of ball screens this year. Had a weird number of just wildly inaccurate passes that got either deflected or that just flew out of bounds. Is just a pure 3-and-D guy with some passing acumen out of heavy closeouts. Having said that, he really showed improved capacity in this regard at the NBA Draft Combine.

Summary
Grimes’ basketball trajectory would have knocked down lesser human beings. Very few five-star prospects come back from the brink, completely change their games and reinvent themselves in this way. For this to happen, it must have taken quite a bit of humbling himself, and a true willingness to put in work. This is the reason I absolutely wouldn’t bet against Grimes carving out a career in the NBA. He’s shown the capacity to improve, and to scale the adversity that absolutely meets every player at some point in their young career. But he is a limited guy to an extent, and he’s a 3-and-D player that hasn’t quite yet hit shots yet from behind the NBA line. But he’s got a real shot to be useful defensively, and if the shot continues to develop at this level, he could become a really valuable role player. He just needs to keep progressing in the way he processes the game.