Quentin Grimes’ early workout bond with JJ Redick becomes part of Lakers’ on-court bet

The Los Angeles Lakers have been reshaping their roster in the summer of 2026, and one of the quieter themes is the personal fit between new additions and the coach at the center of the team’s basketball identity. Quentin Grimes, a guard who has reportedly joined the Lakers, previously worked out with head coach JJ Redick before Redick took over as L.A.’s head coach. The reported workout history is being framed by local coverage as more than trivia, suggesting a foundation of trust that matters when a team is trying to establish roles during an offseason reset.

Redick’s coaching approach has been closely tied to his reputation as a teacher of basketball details. In the reporting surrounding Grimes, local writers point to Redick’s inclination to share knowledge and his desire to compete at a high conceptual level, which is why an experienced guard relationship from early on could resonate once Grimes is in the same system every day. The specific emphasis in the coverage is that Grimes and Redick were willing to invest time with one another before Redick was the coach, not after.

That connection came up again in the context of Grimes’ path, including a public discussion by Grimes on a podcast appearance where he described the workout time with Redick earlier in his career. Coverage also notes that there was awareness inside the Lakers organization that Redick and Grimes had already built a rapport, implying this was not an accidental pairing once roster talks began.

The Lakers’ broader summer context matters because it explains why even small edges can be consequential. Multiple reports describe L.A. as moving quickly once a major domino fell, agreeing to a sign-and-trade involving Walker Kessler before adding Grimes among other free agents. The result, according to that reporting, is a team positioned to be younger and less certain in its overall rotation, making coaching clarity, player accountability, and quick buy-in more important than usual in the early season.

From a basketball standpoint, the Grimes-Redick relationship is particularly relevant because it maps onto a common preseason question for teams undergoing turnover: how fast can the coach get the players to understand what he wants and why. When a player has already experienced the coach’s instruction style, the early practices and film sessions become less of a translation exercise. That can help a guard like Grimes, whose value often depends on decision-making, communication, and sticking to a defensive and spacing plan.

Grimes’ recent statistical profile, as cited in local coverage, underscores why the Lakers might want that kind of fit. He averaged 13.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game last season and shot 33.4% from 3-point range, with an earlier career-high season (briefly playing alongside Luka Dončić in Dallas) highlighted as his best to date. Those numbers, while not guarantees of immediate impact, shape what the Lakers are likely to prioritize: shot-making development alongside role-specific defense and playmaking responsibilities.

For Lakers fans, the practical question now is what this history looks like once training camp starts. If Redick’s instruction clicks quickly with Grimes and Grimes accepts the system expectations early, it could reduce the time the Lakers spend searching for the right lineups. The other side of the bet is that offseason chemistry still has to survive game pressure, so the workout bond should be treated as context, not a substitute for on-court consistency.

Key caveats remain. Much of the relevant relationship detail is drawn from reporting and player discussion, and while the roster additions have been described across outlets, fans should expect official confirmations and role definitions through the team’s offseason communications and preseason deployments.