On June 28, Beijing time, a four-for-one deal was officially announced between the Mavericks and the Pistons. The Mavericks sent Hardaway Jr., a 2025 second-round pick from the Raptors, two 2028 second-round picks, and Grimes from the Pistons.
If you haven't heard of Grimes before, I think it's normal. The 24-year-old Grimes, a rookie from the University of Houston in 2021, is 1.96m tall with an arm span of 2.01m and is a shooting guard on the court.
In 2021, the Clippers drafted Grimes with the 25th pick in the first round and then traded him to the Knicks. In his first year in New York, he played poorly, but improved a little in his second year, improving his stats to 11.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
With Brunson's emergence and Hart and DiVincenzo joining in succession, Grimes' position became dispensable. So before the 2024 trade deadline, the Knicks sent Fournier and Grimes away in exchange for Bojan and Burks from the Pistons.
In half a season with the Pistons, Grimes had few opportunities to play, and his statistics fell to the bottom of his career, averaging only 5.3 points, 2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
The worst thing is that because the opportunities are too fragmented, Grimes' shooting percentage fell to 21.4%, and the three-point shooting rate was only 14.3%, which was very ugly on the books. However, Grimes was able to shoot more than 38 percent from three-point range during the Knicks' steady play.
And the other protagonist of the transaction, Hardaway Jr., is much more beautiful than Grimes, at least in terms of book data. The 32-year-old has been in the league for 11 seasons and has failed to score in a double in just one season.
Hardaway Jr.'s peak was during the 18-19 season with the Knicks, averaging 19.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. It was before the trade deadline this season that the Knicks sent Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee, and Burke to the Mavericks as additions in the trade that sent Porzingis away.
After arriving at the Mavericks, Hardaway Jr.'s scoring production declined. In the 23-24 regular season, Hardaway Jr. averaged 14.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, shooting 40.2% from the field and 35.3% from three-point range.
In the playoffs, the Mavericks nearly pinned Hardaway Jr. to the bench due to his inefficient offense and poor defense, and he only played in garbage time.
In 2024, the Mavericks rushed to the Finals, but the gap with the Celtics was huge, and they unfortunately lost. On the defensive end, the Mavericks have too many colanders, resulting in always a spot being named by the Greens.
Therefore, while the championship team is still there, the Mavericks are also seeking to make some changes. This deal, don't look like the Mavericks sold Hardaway Jr. cheaply, and also took three draft picks in exchange for a nameless kid Grimes.
In fact, the Mavericks killed two birds with one stone with this deal. First, the Mavericks got rid of Hardaway Jr.'s big contract, and the total salary of the player was reduced by 12 million all of a sudden. Second, Grimes is defensively stronger than Hardaway Jr. and is more likely to come in handy in the late postseason game.
Salary reductions are, of course, the main purpose, and the Mavericks are equivalent to unlocking a full middle-class space below the first local tyrant line to ensure salary flexibility to make up for it. According to reporter Marc Stein, the Mavericks have been very close to Clay recently.
Klay has fallen out with the Warriors and is interested in joining the Mavericks. With Klay's strong personality, it is unlikely that he will return to the Warriors in this situation, and even if he takes a pay cut, he will go to a team that respects him more.
And for the Mavericks, Klay, who used to be a top-notch off-ball 3D and four championships, is definitely the perfect championship puzzle.
No matter how low Klay's salary is, it will not be lower than 25 million a year, and if they want to sign Klay, they will release the salary space occupied by Hardaway Jr. is only the first step. Next, the Mavericks will definitely have follow-up actions to further release salary space, and we will wait and see.