Quentin Grimes is one of a handful of restricted free agents yet to sign a new contract this summer. Both he and the Philadelphia 76ers have been reported to be keen on striking a new deal. However, the Sixers remain in limbo over whether they can get an agreement done in the coming weeks.
According to Jake Fischer, writing via an August 10 edition of “The Stein Line” newsletter, the Sixers are still confident of re-signing Grimes.
“The Sixers continue to express confidence that they will re-sign Grimes despite the stalemate there,” Fischer wrote. “My read is that the sides will ultimately see sufficient mutual benefit in a new deal to hash out something that starts above Grimes’ $8.7 million qualifying offer.”
Fischer continued.
“The Sixers are clearly in no rush to strike such an agreement with Grimes, like his fellow RFAs, unable to generate an offer sheet because no team other than Brooklyn has the salary cap space to present one. Which means Grimes has his own thinking to do about taking the qualifying offer himself.”
The Sixers will undoubtedly want to avoid the pathway of Grimes signing his qualifying offer. If he chose to go down that route, he would become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Due to the lack of team control in that instance, Daryl Morey would likely start looking for potential trade partners.
Grimes Remains Sixers’ “Top Priority”
According to Jake Fischer, who was speaking via an August 8 Bleacher Report livestream, Grimes is still expected to re-sign with Philadelphia. However, there doesn’t appear to be a rush to get a deal over the line.
“I can absolutely say that the Sixers—various people in the organization, when asked—keep saying that Quentin Grimes is their top priority,” Fischer said. “And that they are going to bring Quentin Grimes back, it’s just a matter of dollars and cents. There is some buzz of him taking the qualifying offer, too.”
Fischer continued.
“I do think, at the end of the day, as things get to September and maybe even closer to October, that there will be enough synergy [to get a deal done] between Quentin Grimes and the Sixers… Quentin Grimes has never made significant money throughout his tenure as an NBA player. He absolutely stands to benefit from taking a significant offer, whatever it ends up being, from Philadelphia.”
Sixers Urged Not to Overpay Grimes
An anonymous NBA executive, who spoke with Fred Katz of The Athletic believes the Sixers should avoid giving Grimes a deal in the region of $20 million per year.
“The way the cap (environment) is now, why would you spend $20 million on Quentin Grimes when you can get (Bucks guard) Gary Trent (Jr.) for a minimum?” The executive said. “We shouldn’t just sign young players because they’re young. … You’ve got to believe Grimes is gonna develop into your starting backcourt with (Tyrese) Maxey.”
Grimes shone for the Sixers after joining midway through the season. However, he’s unlikely to have such a sizeable role in the upcoming campaign. Therefore, Daryl Morey must pay him based on the role he will have, rather than the impact he made. That is likely where the disconnect is coming from.
Sixers fans will undoubtedly hope this saga is put to bed sooner rather than later. Maybe then, the franchise can begin focusing on bouncing back after a dreadful 2024-25 season.
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