The Dallas Mavericks have needed players to step up in the absence of Luka Doncic, and the team has worked as a committee to shoulder the load.
One of the players that has taken a larger responsibility lately is backup guard Quentin Grimes, who was named the team’s X-Factor by HoopsHype writer Mike Shearer.
“Grimes is having the best season of his young career in Dallas, cranking 40% from deep and posting career-best defensive advanced metrics,” Shearer writes.
“What’s most exciting to nerds like me, however, has been Grimes’ burgeoning playmaking. A fourth or fifth banana on the Mavericks will never have many assists; too much of the offense runs through Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. But these recent games without those players have given more opportunities for everyone else to empty their pockets of all those dimes they’ve been carrying around.”
Grimes, 24, is averaging 10.3 points per game so far this season while shooting around 40 percent from beyond the 3-point line.
If the Mavs are going to make noise in the postseason, they will need Grimes to continue playing and growing at his current pace.