NBA trade grades: Nico Harrison's disasterclass deadline continues with post-Doncic clunker
By Quinn Everts
There's a theory that when humans experience joy or trauma so intense, their feelings actually end up leveling out a little bit. Basically, there's a limit to human suffering. I'm hoping that Mavericks fans have already reached that limit, because Nico Harrison just made another trade.
This one won't shake the sports world like the Luka Doncic trade did — this time, the Mavericks traded Quentin Grimes and a second-round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers for Caleb Martin — but it's, at best, a questionable deal on first impression.
Dallas is sending Quentin Grimes
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 4, 2025
and Philadelphia's 2025 second-round pick back to the 76ers for Martin, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/4vSqohB03U
Subscribe to The Whiteboard, FanSided’s daily email newsletter on everything basketball. If you like The Whiteboard, share it with a friend! If you don’t like it, share it with an enemy!
NBA trade grades: Daryl Morey kicks Nico Harrison while he's down
I need to preface this by saying I am the biggest Quentin Grimes truther around. I love his game, and believe he can be an incredibly valuable player for a good team. That informs my grades a little here, but I still believe I am being level-headed when I say: this is an obvious win for Daryl Morey and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Grimes will essentially act as the Jared McCain replacement (and likely Eric Gordon replacement, too, when he likely gets traded in the next 48 hours) but he's so much more than just a replacement, and Philadelphia now having team control on Grimes this offseason is a pretty massive win.
For the record, I also like Caleb Martin! He signed a four-year deal with Philly this offseason and was starting to find his footing before injuring his hip. He's a good player; but Dallas appears to be starting a run of "acquiring good players for better players" and that's not really a strategy I'd recommend for a basketball team.
Overall... this is an obvious win for the Sixers. Grimes will be an RFA this offseason and my assumption is that... you won't believe this... Dallas didn't want to pay him a big contract, so they shipped him out for Caleb Martin, who will make around $8 million a year for the next three seasons. Oh boy.