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By Bryan Colbert Jr.
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The post Lebron James era for the Los Angeles Lakers has begun.
For the first time since the 2017-18 season, LeBron James won't be wearing purple and gold. The four-time NBA champion left Los Angeles this summer after eight seasons and a championship with the franchise, deciding to take his talents to the Philadelphia 76ers.
His departure left the Lakers with more than just production to replace. It created opportunities for a new influx of players tasked with helping Los Angeles begin its next era.
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Quentin Grimes is ready to rise to the occasion.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick recently acknowledged that Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler are expected to occupy three spots in the starting lineup, leaving two positions open for competition.
Grimes is among the players hoping to claim one.
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“One hundred percent,” Grimes said when asked whether his goal was to start. “Having those comments brings competition, brings drive. We want to be competitive every day in practice. I want to get everything I had, I want to fight for it, I want to earn it. I don’t want anything handed to me or given out to me.”
It is a career-defining chance for the 26-year-old guard, mirroring the wider transformation underway across Los Angeles.
For most of the previous eight seasons, nearly every Lakers roster decision was made with James as the focal point. That approach helped produce an NBA championship in 2020 and another deep postseason run in 2023.
Now, those days feel like a distant memory.
James informed the Lakers in June that he planned to play elsewhere before ultimately joining Philadelphia. The 41-year-old showed almost no signs of aging in his final season as a Laker, averaging 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds.
Rather than attempt to replace one of the greatest players in NBA history with a single acquisition, the Lakers spent the offseason reshaping the roster around Dončić.
Grimes was a big part of that plan.
Los Angeles officially signed Grimes in July after he spent last season with the Philadelphia 76ers, making him the Lakers first free agent addition of their active free agency. Grimes averaged 13.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists, giving Redick another perimeter player capable of contributing on both ends of the floor.
The Lakers also added Walker Kessler, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Kevon Looney, Matisse Thybulle and others as part of a significant roster overhaul.
For Grimes, joining Los Angeles also provided an opportunity to reunite with Dončić.
The two were briefly teammates with the Dallas Mavericks before Grimes was traded during the 2024-25 season. Their familiarity could become particularly valuable as Los Angeles builds an offense around Doncic's ability to create opportunities for teammates.
Grimes' combination of outside shooting and perimeter defense could make him an intriguing fit next to Dončić and Reaves. His youth also suggests that he still hasn’t reached his prime, giving the Lakers a guy that can grow and develop alongside the Lakers star duo.
But things are far from guaranteed.
Grimes made it clear that he views the competition for a starting position as an opportunity rather than a problem.
That competition may be exactly what the Lakers need.
Los Angeles won 53 games last season and reached the Western Conference semifinals, but the roster surrounding Dončić now looks considerably different. James, Deandre Ayton and Rui Hachimura were all starters and are now no longer with the team. Now Los Angeles has several younger pieces around arguably the best guard in the NBA.
Dončić no longer has to share the spotlight with James.
He is now the centerpiece of the franchise.
That makes players such as Grimes increasingly important. The Lakers aren't asking him to replace James' production or presence. They're asking him to provide the defense, shooting and versatility that could make life easier for Dončić and Reaves.
And Grimes believes the revamped group could exceed expectations.
The guard said during Lakers media day that Los Angeles has enough talent to "shock a lot of people this year, for sure."
Whether that happens will depend heavily on how quickly all of the Lakers' new pieces fit together.
For Grimes, the first challenge is simpler.
Win the starting job.
If he does, he could find himself playing a significant role in the Lakers' first season after LeBron James - and the beginning of a new era built around Luka Doncic.
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