How Anfernee Simons Will Replace Quentin Grimes

The Sixers were not in the business of popping champagne bottles after outlasting the field of Jaylen Brown suitors a week ago.

There was work to be done. Quentin Grimes was off to Los Angeles, eager to join the purple and gold. Kelly Oubre Jr. was in verbal agreement with the Indiana Pacers.

For their respective warts, they represented the bulk of Philadelphia's depth behind the core of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and V.J. Edgecombe.

So, Mike Gansey and company wasted no time after flipping the Eastern Conference on its head the night before.

Philadelphia inked shooting guard Anfernee Simons to a two-year deal, bringing a pre-prime offensive talent to the Sixers on a team-friendly deal.

After splitting last season between the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls, Simons will ostensibly walk in as the team's sixth man on day one.

That will be a stark contrast to what they had at sixth man a season ago.

I'll preface this by saying that I was lower on Grimes than most were. He was an over-aggressive defensive player who recklessly flew at shooters, committing fouls on jumpers too often to justify the helter skelter play on the offensive end.

Philadelphia won't have to worry about whether Simons will foul shooters as much as they'll have to worry about whether he can simply guard. Grimes had his flaws, but he could pressure the ball.

The offensive end of the court is where Simons will prove superior to Grimes.

Grimes' athletic pop enables him to get to the rim far more consistently than Simons does. But Simons made up that difference last season by shooting 51% on shots between four and 14 feet, per Cleaning The Glass (CTG). Grimes shot just 38% on those shots, and on significantly smaller volume.

But Simons' bread-and-butter is the perimeter, and he has a long track record from that level of the floor.

Outside of a six-game sample with the Bulls last season, Simons has shot at least 37% from 3 in each of the last five-and-a-half seasons. He's eclipsed 40% from deep in two-and-a-half of those seasons.

Grimes, by contrast, has only ever shot above 40% from 3 once in his career, across 47 games with the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024-25 season.

The frustration with Grimes wasn't that his shot selection was erratic (although it could've been better). It was that Grimes didn't consistently capitalize on good looks, and he wasn't an automatic finisher or lockdown defender to justify the unreliable 3-point shooting.

They're roughly equal as playmakers in terms of output, although I'd argue Simons can read and place pocket passes out of ball screens better.

The value in giving Simons a two-year, $12.3 million deal over the four years and $60 million Grimes got from the Lakers will be determined by the shooting. Not just as a spacer off ballhandlers like Maxey and Edgecombe, but as a creator in Simons' own right.

	Catch-and-shoot 3 attempts per game	Catch-and-shoot 3 %	Pull-up 3 attempts per game	Pull-up 3 %
2025-26	3.6	42.9	3.3	33.7
2024-25	4.3	37.7	4.2	34.7
2023-24	3.7	42.7	4.9	34.8
2022-23	4.8	39.2	4.1	35.5

Simons has an outstanding track record of volume of 3-point attempts regardless of context. His catch-and-shoot efficiency is excellent. While he's not a great pull-up shooter, he at least has a pretty consistent trendline.

The same cannot be said for Grimes.

	Catch-and-shoot 3 attempts per game	Catch-and-shoot 3 %	Pull-up 3 attempts per game	Pull-up 3 %
2025-26	3.3	38.3	1.7	24
2024-25	3.4	39.4	2.2	36.8
2023-24	3.6	35.1	1.0	28.8
2022-23	4.9	40.0	0.8	29.1

Even if Simons offers more offensive utility, the changing of the guards shifts the roster dynamic.

Nick Nurse relied on Grimes to be a stopper in some lineups and a piece of the solution to insulate the perimeter in other groupings. The Sixers will have to actively protect Simons. Fortunately for them, they'll have a rotating door of Edgecombe, Brown and Dean Wade around Simons. Even if Simons gets cracked with ease, there wil be bodies around him to support.

The problem will be that eventually basketball becomes a game of targeting the mismatch. But when Simons is clearly being targeted in primary actions, the Sixers will have the offensive personnel to feel confident in pulling him off the floor.

Besides the team-friendly nature of his deal, besides the tradeable salary he serves as in the Sixers' books, perhaps one of the most important things Simons will do is challenge rookie guard Labaron Philon Jr.

Heading into free agency, Philon stood to walk in as the team's lead guard off the bench on day one. He would not have had many challengers for the job. Perhaps that would breed some complacency.

Even if Philon earns his way into a key role off this team's bench, he'll be forced to work for everything. He'll be forced to improve. And if he's struggling with the responsibility of running the show in the second unit, Simons will be there to help pick up the pieces.

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