What happened: The Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to a four-year, $60 million contract with unrestricted free-agent guard Quentin Grimes, per ESPN's Shams Charania. The move reunites Grimes with Luka Doncic, his briefly former teammate in Dallas during the 2024-25 season. Los Angeles also added guard Collin Sexton, pairing two athletic young players in the rotation.
Why it matters: With Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard both departing in free agency, the Lakers had a clear need for backcourt depth and bench scoring, and the reported deal is structured with a player option in its final season. Grimes gives Los Angeles the youth and athleticism the guard rotation has lacked in recent seasons. The bet is that he and Sexton can raise the floor behind the starting backcourt heading into 2026-27.
By the numbers: Grimes averaged 13.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists last season while shooting 33.4% from three, with 20-plus points in 15 games and a He scored 18 points on four made threes in a pivotal Game 5 win over Boston during the postseason. For his career he averages 11.1 points on 44.6% shooting and 36.6% from beyond the arc.
What to watch: Watch how Grimes and Sexton split minutes behind the starters and whether the added guard depth offsets the losses of Smart and Kennard.