Right, let's not forget that one is entering his prime while the other is firmly on a downward curve. Usually defensive anchors fall off a cliff at the age of 33-34. Smart is 32. I genuinely think last year was his last good season as a defensive anchor. He'll still be excellent as a scheme-dependant specialist for 20-25 minutes, but given that his offense will also be taking a hit, how much value can he bring to a team? So yes, I think we improved with Grimes moving forward.
I agree. Smart was a great player for us, but let's be real, he was better than we though was possible (he was 5 million for a reason) and it was the healthiest season he's had in a while. What are the odds of all that happening again with him being a year older? Once you hit your 30's the aging process becomes logarithmic like the richter scale. Lol Grimes may not be quite as good defensively (if Smart somehow stayed healthy again), but he will overall be a much better player over the next 4 years.
I've been putting a little more work into looking Grimes over and I agree completely about the next four years. Another even better than I thought signing.
Smart was one of the better defensive players in the league last year. He kind of got over the hump physically and was relatively healthy. That could be a positive sign - but at 6.5m per, it’s hardly a risk for the amount top line talent he brings on that end. I just don’t think we need to drag Smart down to be happy with Grimes. You guys will like him, he plays with an edge, he is deceptively athletic and a two way player. He is a starter quality two way guy in my opinion - I do think we’ll probably ask too much of him being the third option offensively and the main POA. But if he rises to that, we’ve got a huge win.
saying that based on both his own and other players' history that smart might not be as good as last year heading forward isn't dragging him down. obviously, others shared the sentiment, or he wouldn't have signed up at the price he did. he was worth full mle or more last year, based on production. grimes won't provide the leadership/intangibles smart did. he won't provide the ability to switch up to larger players, either--which we'll feel right now because we have literally nobody to do that. but he'll provide a LOT more on offense and will be suprisingly solid on d, imo.
Referring back to the player comparison analysis posted a while back (Smart vs Grimes and Rui vs Mamu), the points that stood out to me were: 1) shot difficulty. Grimes should see an increase in % with better looks 2) even more important, the gravity he brings to the offense. The data showed how much defenses would sag off Smart, mucking things up for Luka and AR. Not only will this improve offensive output, but also limit turnovers. There were stretches where we’d have repeated live ball turnovers that resulted in easy points for the opponent. I’ll miss Smart’s energy, but as we’ve already discussed, we may gotten out of that business before a drop off and betting on a guy entering his prime that will excel playing next to Luka again.
He wasn't interviewed yet right? Very curious to hear what he says. Have been listening to different guys talking about him and it seems he initially started becoming an upside 3&D in NY but wanted to become a more offensive minded player and has been bouncing around the league because of that. He definitely has the offensive upside like the 30 and 40pt games last year show, but his best role in the NBA is as an elite 3&D. Wondering if this big contract is the beginning of his new chapter and he really buys-in into that role. He must go to each game thinking what he will do on defense and just take whatever comes on offense. That's where I want his mind at. Then I do like to have someone that can increase the offensive role when needed, if Luka/AR are missing games or being played out by opposing defenses. He's the guy I most expect from this year. Tony Jones does a good summary of him:
Yeah I was watching that video with Tony Jones last night (I’m paraphrasing here), right off the bat Kamenetzky begins prefacing the Grimes segment about how maybe it’s not fair to consider him a Smart replacement, how he might have a lot of unrealistic defensive expectations on him And then Jones pushes back right away, basically saying that he DOES see Grimes as a very positive defender. I recall him saying how PoA defense may actually be Grimes best attribute. That defensively he is very good against smaller 3’s (used Jaylen Brown as an example of someone he locks up well), great on any 2, capable of guarding some 1’s. Said he’s not a defensive playmaker like Smart whose going to create chaos and force turnovers and get the crowd riled up, but he’s the kind of defender who will be able to stay in front of his matchup and force them into tougher shots that they’ll likely miss. Said he’s someone you can put on SGA or Brunson and that he’d do as well as you can reasonably expect from anyone on such a matchup. Said he thinks that when he got to Philly the combination of seeking a new contract and Philly being decimated by injuries seemed to put him in an environment where he was trying to do a lot more offensively. Described his offense as “he plays like a guy who knows his crush is in the stands”. Very flashy offensive player and when he puts the ball on the floor you never know if he’s going to pull off a dazzling play or go too far and accidentally kick the ball into the fifth row. Said if he was coaching Grimes, he would encourage him to just get rid of the ball handling/playmaking side of his game because he think his strengths should allow him to be a pretty effective 3&D guy. Stand in the corner, wait for open looks generated by Luka and AR, if defenders close on him attack the rim with aggression.
I’ve watched Grimes all the way back to his NY days as I like trying to find some diamonds in the rough (that’s why I’ve been harping on about Spencer Jones). I do think he can be a good POA and generally solid defensively - during the Knicks days they were really hyped about him developing defensively. I think the problem is offensive players get paid alot more. He kind of sold out his defence for a contract and I imagine he's a bit disappointed how it all worked out. He was probably hoping for somewhere around 20m AAV when he left the Mavs, but things just haven't worked out. If he can put both sides of the ball together, I think he can be really effective and get another good contract after this - hopefully his team is in his ear about that.
