Grimes and Fournier on their Knicks careers: trades, relationships, records...

The New York Knicks completed a trade-deadline transaction for the second season in a row a couple of weeks ago following the acquisition of Josh Hart in Feb. 2023. After cutting ties with two of the core pieces of the franchise—RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley—to wrap up the 2023 calendar year, the Knicks brass decided to move on from another of their main young assets and sent Quentin Grimes—along with ostracized veteran Evan Fournier—to the rebuilding Detroit Pistons.

Both men returned to New York on Monday to face the Knicks for the first time since they got traded, this time as visitors of a hostile Madison Square Garden.

Grimes played his second game in Detroit’s red and blue threads after rehabbing from a knee injury leaving him sidelined for more than two weeks, and Fournier logged minutes for the fifth time in his brief Pistons career.

The younger of the two (24 minutes) finished Monday’s outing with a bench-high 14 points to go with three rebounds, three blocks, two assists, and one steal. Fournier wasn’t as impactful, but the Frenchman still found a way to contribute seven points, two thefts, and a dime in 20 minutes off the pine.

The Knicks beat the Pistons in their first meeting this season (Nov. 30; 118-112) and then again on Monday, 113-111, but Detroit will have another go at New York as the rebuilding squad will return to Madison Square Garden later this season with the second game between both franchises scheduled for Mar. 26.

We scoured the internet and fetched every quote we could find about the comments both Grimes and Fournier made heading into the game against their former franchise, and carefully curated them for you to easily digest them.

Quentin Grimes

On how his years with the Knicks can help him improve Detroit...

“Just coming from the Knicks from the past few years having a lot of wins, I’m just trying to come in and bring some of the habits that I learned under [head coach Tom Thibodeau], and try to bring a winning culture, try to get it restored and uplift everything.”

“The only place you can go is up right now with this team. So just try to come in, me and Evan (Fournier)—Evan’s been a winner for a lot of years in this league, so just try to come in and bring some winning habits to this young team.”

On how the Knicks moved from not considering trading him in 2022 (in exchange for Donovan Mitchell) to selling him low in 2024...

“They try to label you untouchable and stuff like that, and that from a media standpoint is how it goes. If they’re gonna keep one guy out of the deal, then that’s just how it goes. So it’s the media stirring things around for sure. It is what it is. You can’t just label one guy.”

On his relationship with head coach Tom Thibodeau deteriorating this season...

“It’s understandable just knowing the relationship last year was different than it was this year. But it’s all love. It wasn’t like how it was last year, but sometimes it goes like that.”

“We had RJ the whole season (in 2023), Julius, everybody was pretty much healthy so those guys need the ball for the majority of the game, so it’s hard to get shots and stuff like that when you’re playing with three guys who are pretty ball-dominant. So that’s just kind of how it went this year.”

On knowing he was in for a much tougher season in New York this year because of the depth of the roster...

“Just a lot more players, a lot more depth at my position, stuff like that. Kinda last year I knew Jalen [Brunson] was sitting a lot of games, so I was gonna end up with a lot more opportunity. But coming into this season for the most part we had a healthy roster and a lot of minutes to distribute.”

“I knew coming in having Josh [Hart] for the whole [2024 season], bringing in Donte [DiVincenzo], last year RJ [Barrett] and Jalen [Brunson] missing time—I was able to take a lot of the load. It was kind of one of those things, you’ve got a lot of good players on the team and you’ve got to find minutes for them. It was one of those things, but I feel like everything worked out in the end and it’s going to work out for the best. Everything happens for a reason. I don’t worry about that too much for sure.”

On losing his starting role to Donte DiVincenzo before ultimately getting traded...

“[DiVincenzo] is a good player, so you’ve got to find minutes for him for sure, but that’s kinda how the NBA works sometimes—a lot of good players in the NBA. On a good team, you’ve gotta find minutes for everybody. It is what it is sometimes.”

On the opportunities that playing for a rebuilding team will offer him in Detroit...

“I think I know what it is (the Pistons’ plan for him). Me and Monty already talked about it. They weren’t gonna trade for me if I wasn’t coming in to be one of the [core] players on the team. So I think everybody knows their role for sure.”

On spending more time driving from Manhattan to Westchester than on the court...

“It would take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and 20 minutes to get to the game. If you hit any traffic or anything, it’ll take you an hour [and] 20 [minutes]. They send out that mass text like, ‘Everybody leave early because of traffic.’”

On his trade expectations and knowing he was going to get moved before the deadline...

“I knew it was going to happen. I didn’t know it would be Detroit. It was a few teams. But I knew it was going to happen, for sure.”

On the first piece of advice he’s given his younger teammates...

“I (have) kind of seen it being with the team four, five games now. Young team, it’s hard to get calls. You’ve got to get established. I told the young guys after this game, you’ve got to get respect. I’ve been on the other side of that call many times and not getting that call. We’ve gotta keep fighting, just keep on our way every game, gotta earn respect in this league.”

Evan Fournier

On wanting out of New York this season...

“I was hoping for a trade and it happened, so it worked out.”

On how he learned about his trade to Detroit...

“I had no idea [I was finally getting traded]. I was actually in the steam room and Josh [Hart] came in storming like, ‘Yo Ev!’ That’s how it happened.”

On his young age and still being in his prime...

“Bro, I’m 31, not 40. I’m in my best years, literally.”

On his time in New York...

“It was obviously one of the hardest times in my career but as a person, it was probably my best time. My second son was born here. We always wanted to live in New York, my wife and I, we did. We had the time of our life in the city. Playing at MSG every night was a privilege. And there’s moments that you’ll always cherish: that first game against Boston was special. Breaking the franchise record was special. I hand really high moments that I will never forget.”

On facing one of his former teams in the Knicks at MSG...

“I want to play well. At this point in my career, I truly don’t care [if I’m playing my former team]. I feel like I’m being myself again. Help these young guys and grow. I actually never felt like that [having ill will towards an old team. I remember my first year when I was playing well against Boston, I never really cared to be honest.”

On the possibility of Donte DiVincenzo breaking his 3-point record this season...

“I saw that, I saw that. Donte is a heck of a shooter. I’m pretty confident he’s going to break it for sure.”

“To be honest, that season I really understood that I could break the record (most 3-point shots made) late in the season.“