Quentin Grimes excited to make season debut for Knicks

Quentin Grimes was his usual easygoing self in the Knicks’ locker room before Friday night’s preseason finale against the Wizards, but it wasn’t the same, not when he was about an hour away from finally getting into a game. It was something to look at as the Knicks finished a 3-1 preseason with a 105-89 win at Madison Square Garden.

Grimes arrived in training camp off a stellar summer league performance that was followed by trade rumors — mostly with the Knicks refusing to include him in any deal — and hoped to challenge Evan Fournier for a starting job.

But almost as soon as camp began, he was sidelined with a sore left foot — nothing serious, just overworked — and he was shut down for the first three preseason games. Ahead of Wednesday’s season opener in Memphis, he finally got the OK to get on the court Friday.

“I’m good. I’ve been practicing,” said Grimes, who entered the game with 6:52 left in the first half and went scoreless in 15 minutes. “I think it’s more like a precautionary thing. But I can finally go out there and make my season debut. I’ve been waiting since summer league, so this will be real fun to get out there.”

Just what he would look like was a mystery, one that carried some measure of confidence.

“It’s a great question,” coach Tom Thibodeau said before the game. “I don’t know the answer to that. I want to see him out there. He hasn’t played. So let’s get a look at him, see where he is.

“The thing that I do like about him a lot is that he’s in great shape all the time. He’s never not in great shape. His intensity is really what separates him. Shot profile, he knows what shots he should take. He knows how to play. He knows, he plays with speed. So I think he’ll fit in seamlessly.”

Thibodeau has praised Grimes’ conditioning, his defense and his shot, but he made it clear that the starting job is Fournier’s unless it is taken from him. That might happen eventually, but not yet. He got a run with the starters in the first half and played with the second unit in the second half.

“I think I knew that coming in, because Evan, he earned it, really,” Grimes said last week. “It’s his 11th year. I didn’t assume coming in. Thibs said you have to come in and earn it. That’s what I kind of expected coming into training camp, but then I kind of got hurt, so it derailed that.

“But I felt like he earned it. He was the guy that had it coming in. I had to prove myself. I didn’t get the opportunity to do that, but Evan’s been my guy since day one. Since I got here, he’s been teaching me stuff since last year.”

After sitting out most of the early part of his rookie season, Grimes emerged with a 27-point outburst on Dec. 21 and then was sidelined the next five games after testing positive for COVID. He proved himself worthy of Thibodeau’s trust after the coach pushed for him to be drafted, but he suffered a partial dislocation of his kneecap in February and appeared in only six games the rest of the season.

In summer league, he took on a leadership role, handling the ball more and using his brief NBA tenure to serve as an experienced voice in practice. But the work hasn’t been on display until now.

“I believe the whole season you use the things you’ve been working on in the summer,” Grimes said. “I feel like I showed that in the summer league and just continue to do that. This is a good test for everything I’ve been working on all summer.”

Notes & quotes: Obi Toppin left the game in the fourth quarter after suffering a left foot injury when he appeared to trip over a fan’s foot.  

Nets defeat Timberwolves. Kyrie Irving scored 26 points and Kevin Durant added 20 as the Nets beat the host Timberwolves, 112-102.

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.