Quentin Grimes wants the challenge of leading the Lakers on defense
· Yahoo Sports
Los Angeles Lakers fans seem to be confident about how much Quentin Grimes will help the team on offense. The 26-year-old 6-foot-4 guard has ample bounce and burst to his game, not to mention solid athleticism, and he averaged 13.4 points and 3.3 assists a game this past season while with the Philadelphia 76ers.
But while he is a solid defender, Lakers fans don't seem to be sure if he's a good enough defender to be a starter on a championship team. Yet Grimes seems eager to take on such a challenge, based on what he said during a recent appearance on the "Mason & Ireland Show" on ESPN LA radio.
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“That was really one of the bigger selling points. Talking with JJ [Redick] and then having them be able to pitch me what my role [will] look like, having a pretty a pretty big offensive role within the team. But also having a big leadership role on defense as well as taking on that challenge every night of guarding the best players and wanting that responsibility. I want to have that challenge every night. So, that was really the two main things when I was choosing [a team] in free agency.”
Los Angeles came into this offseason, in the minds of many people, needing two legitimate two-way wings. It needed one who could guard guards, especially while playing the role of a point-of-attack defender, and one who could guard forwards.
According to Dan Woike of The Athletic, coach Redick plans to use Grimes in that role as a point-of-attack defender. If he proves capable of holding down that role at a high level, it would go a long way in helping the team reach contender status.
L.A. still lacks that taller two-way wing, even after signing Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle, both of whom are capable defenders but probably aren't capable of handling a starting role. Therefore, it continues to pursue Jonathan Kuminga, flaws and all, although its pursuit of Kuminga has apparently stalled.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Quentin Grimes wants the challenge of leading the Lakers on defense
