The Lakers agree to bring in Quentin Grimes in a new step of a major roster reconstruction
Los Angeles, California, July 1, 2026 – The Los Angeles Lakers have continued one of the most active roster reshuffles at the start of NBA free agency. According to a report by NBA.com News Services, after reaching an agreement to bring in Walker Kessler, the club made additional moves and reached agreements with Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Quentin Grimes. The most important backcourt addition in that group is Grimes, the former Philadelphia 76ers player, whom ESPN's Shams Charania reported had agreed to a four-year contract worth 60 million dollars. According to the same report, the contract includes a player option, giving Grimes the possibility of additional control over the final year of the arrangement. Since the NBA free-agent market is still in the moratorium period, this is a reported agreement which, under league rules, can be formally signed only on July 6, 2026.
An agreement that strengthens the perimeter and expands the rotation
Grimes' arrival fits into a clear Lakers pattern: making the roster around the main pillars of play deeper, physically stronger and more adaptable for multiple tactical scenarios. According to NBA.com, Grimes was a reliable scorer off the bench for Philadelphia in the 2025/26 season, averaging 13.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Such a profile is especially valuable for a team that wants to have more sources of creation, but also players who can remain on the court in defensively demanding endings of games. Grimes is not a classic primary playmaker, but in recent seasons he has shown that he can attack from the second unit, hit an open shot and take on part of the offensive burden when defenses concentrate on the biggest stars. For the Lakers, it is equally important that he arrives as a guard who can fit in both with the ball and without it.
According to NBA.com News Services, the Lakers simultaneously also agreed on the arrival of Sexton, a guard who brings penetration and energy with the ball, and Mamukelashvili, a big man who stretches the floor. In such an environment, Grimes could receive the role of a link between the first and second units: he is strong enough to guard guards and some wings, reliable enough as an outside shooter not to damage offensive spacing, and experienced enough not to have to go through a development process like a younger player. His value to the Lakers does not lie only in individual statistics, but in the fact that he gives the team more combinations on the perimeter. In the playoffs, where rotations shorten, precisely such two-way players often determine how much a coach can adjust the lineup against different opponents.
Why the Lakers targeted Grimes specifically
Grimes entered the NBA with a reputation as a player who can defend the perimeter and hit a three-pointer within a set offense. The New York Knicks announced in 2021 that they had signed him as the 25th pick of the NBA draft, after acquiring his rights in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers. Since then he has gone through several environments, including the Knicks, Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers, and each stage added something to his profile. In New York he was recognized primarily as a role player, in Dallas he got an opportunity in a different offensive system, and in Philadelphia he occasionally had to take on greater responsibility because of changes and injuries on the roster. Such a path explains why the Lakers can view him as a player who is young enough for a multi-year investment, but already has experience playing on teams with high expectations.
The Philadelphia 76ers officially announced in February 2025 that they had acquired Grimes and a 2025 second-round draft pick from the Dallas Mavericks in a trade in which Caleb Martin went to Dallas. That move was important for the 76ers at the time because they got a younger guard who could cover multiple outside positions. PhillyVoice, in its analysis after the latest agreement, stated that Grimes arrived in Philadelphia as a player who was expected to offer shooting and defense, but because of the circumstances on the team he also showed broader offensive potential. In the 2025/26 season, according to the same source, when the 76ers were healthier, his role was more tied to the bench than to the starting five. That is exactly what opened space for a move to a team in which his minutes and function could be defined differently.
The financial framework and the significance of the player option
The reported four-year contract worth 60 million dollars positions Grimes in an important middle tier of the NBA market, above minimum and short-term solutions, but below maximum contracts reserved for franchise cornerstones. For the Lakers, such a contract means that they are not bringing in Grimes as a temporary filler, but as a player for a multi-season rotation. The player option in the final season, according to the ESPN report carried by NBA.com, additionally changes the dynamics of the agreement because it allows the player to test the market again if his value rises. From the club's side, the average annual value of the contract of 15 million dollars can be sustainable if Grimes maintains his defensive level and increases his shooting stability. In the modern NBA economy, reliable guards and wings who can play without the ball, take on defensive assignments and do not need a large number of plays are increasingly sought after.
It is important to emphasize that the agreement, according to NBA moratorium rules, is not yet the same as an officially signed contract. In its explanation of free agency, the NBA states that clubs may negotiate with free agents from June 30 at 6 p.m. Eastern Time, but that most contracts cannot be officially signed until July 6 at 12:01 p.m. Eastern Time. The league also states that agreements reached during that period do not count toward team salary and are not binding on the player or the club. In practice, the vast majority of such agreements are realized when the moratorium ends, but the precise wording remains important until the club announces official confirmation. That is why Grimes' move at this stage is most accurately described as a reported agreement, not as an already formally completed signing.
The Lakers change identity after moves in the paint
Grimes' agreement cannot be viewed separately from the Lakers' broader summer plan. According to NBA.com, immediately before the additional backcourt and frontcourt moves, the club agreed on a trade that should bring Walker Kessler, a center known for rim protection, to Los Angeles. With that, the Lakers are clearly trying to improve the structure in both directions: in the paint they are looking for verticality, rebounding and defensive presence, while on the perimeter they are adding players who can defend, run and hit shots. In that framework, Grimes is not an isolated acquisition, but part of a puzzle intended to reduce dependence on one or two creators. A deeper rotation should also help through the long regular season, especially if the coach carefully distributes the minutes of the most burdened players.
The reported retention of Austin Reaves can be read in the same logic. NBA.com previously reported that Reaves plans to sign a four-year contract worth 185 million dollars and remain with the Lakers, with a player option in the final season. In that article, NBA.com described Reaves as an important part of the franchise's future, and also highlighted that the club finished last season with optimism despite elimination in the playoffs. If Reaves' retention is combined with the arrivals of Grimes and Sexton, the Lakers get significantly more backcourt depth than they had at the end of the previous season. That does not automatically guarantee a jump in the Western Conference standings, but it gives them more solutions for games in which rhythm, injuries or foul trouble change the initial plan.
What Grimes brings to the court
The greatest value Grimes could have for the Lakers may be his tactical simplicity. He does not have to have the ball in his hands to remain useful, and that is crucial in lineups with dominant creators. On offense he can stand in the corner, come off screens, attack a close closeout or occasionally run a secondary pick-and-roll. On defense he can take on the toughest assignments on the outside positions, at least for part of the game, which relieves other key players. Such a description does not mean that Grimes has no weaknesses: his three-point efficiency has varied through the seasons, and his best role is probably not one in which he constantly has to create from isolation.
According to NBA.com, Grimes was a reserve for the 76ers in the 2025/26 season, but along with 13.4 points he also recorded more than three assists per game. That figure shows that his offensive contribution is not reduced only to spot-up shooting. For the Lakers, that could be important in minutes when the main lineup is resting, because a bench that does not have at least two players capable of attacking the defense often becomes predictable. If Grimes maintains defensive discipline and raises his shooting percentage toward the level from the better periods of his career, he could become one of the more stable players in the rotation. If his shot remains variable, his value will still depend on how successfully he can guard the opponent's best outside players.
Consequences for Philadelphia
For the Philadelphia 76ers, the reported departure of Grimes means the loss of a player who in a short period became an important part of the outside rotation. PhillyVoice stated that Grimes' role on a healthy team was limited by the fact that Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe were projected as long-term starting guards. In such an arrangement, Grimes could have remained an important third guard, but the market offered him a contract and context that were obviously more attractive. For the 76ers, this is both a financial and a sporting question: keeping all useful rotation players becomes increasingly difficult when they simultaneously have to preserve space below luxury-tax thresholds, flexibility for future moves and the hierarchy of minutes. The move to the Lakers is therefore not only an individual decision by the player, but also an indicator of how hard it is to retain the middle tier of quality in an era of stricter financial constraints.
Philadelphia will have to replace Grimes' combination of defense, shooting and secondary creation. That does not necessarily mean they will look for an identical player, but the loss of such a profile narrows the number of secure outside options. If the 76ers remain healthy, most of the offense will still revolve around the main players, but the regular season rarely allows ideal conditions. Grimes was useful precisely because he could cover different roles without the need for the offense to fully adapt to him. In that sense, the Lakers are not taking Philadelphia's biggest star, but they are taking the type of player who often becomes especially important in April and May.
A contract with a clear message
With this agreement, the Lakers sent a message that they are not looking only for big names, but also for functional roster pieces. After a season in which the competition in the West again showed how costly every weakness in the rotation is, adding Grimes looks like an attempt to reduce the number of minutes in which the team loses defensive structure or offensive spacing. According to available information, the club simultaneously addressed multiple needs: rim protection through Kessler, additional energy and penetration through Sexton, depth at the big positions through Mamukelashvili and perimeter balance through Grimes. It is an ambitious approach, but its real value will depend on health, distribution of roles and whether the new players quickly fit into the system.
For Grimes, this is an opportunity to grow from the role of a useful rotation player into a stable member of a team with major global attention. The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most followed franchises in world basketball, and every one of their moves brings increased visibility and greater pressure. In such an environment, players like Grimes often do not have the luxury of a long adjustment period: they are asked to defend immediately, hit open shots and make correct decisions. If he succeeds, the reported 60 million dollar contract could prove to be an important part of the Lakers' new identity, and not just another entry in the turbulent beginning of free agency.
Sources:
- NBA.com News Services – report on the Lakers' reported agreements with Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton and Sandro Mamukelashvili (link)
- NBA.com – explanation of NBA free agency rules, the moratorium and official contract-signing dates (link)
- NBA.com – overview of key 2026 free agency dates (link)
- NBA.com News Services – report on Austin Reaves' reported four-year contract with the Lakers and the team context (link)
- Philadelphia 76ers – official announcement on the arrival of Quentin Grimes from the Dallas Mavericks in February 2025 (link)
- New York Knicks / NBA.com – official announcement on the signing of Quentin Grimes as the 25th pick of the 2021 NBA draft (link)
- PhillyVoice – analysis of Grimes' departure from Philadelphia and report on the contract with the Lakers (link)