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By Nelson Espinal
Contributing Sports Reporter
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Philadelphia 76ers guard Quentin Grimes remains a restricted free agent, and with the season quickly approaching, a resolution is needed soon. He has an Oct. 1 deadline to pick up his qualifying offer for 2025-26, after which he'd be an unrestricted free agent.
Before the trade deadline last season, the Sixers acquired Grimes, adding a player who has demonstrated the ability to be a notable role player capable of defending well and shooting the ball at a high rate.
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Across just 28 games in Philly, he averaged 21.9 points, 4.5 assists, and 5.2 rebounds, shooting 46.9 percent from the field. More impressively, he shot 37.3 percent from deep on a high volume of 7.9 attempts per game.
Due to the injuries suffered by the Sixers, Grimes was given the highest usage role of his career and demonstrated an ability to handle the increased volume.
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Many people around the NBA expected Grimes to secure a big-money, long-term deal from either the Sixers or via an offer sheet from somewhere else.
That offer never came, however, and he has not yet signed his qualifying offer.
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According to reporting from The Stein Line's Jake Fischer, negotiations between Philadelphia and Grimes have not progressed much, and a one-year deal, either the qualifying offer or another, is the most likely option.
"Grimes' agent David Bauman told The Stein Line this week that he first met with Daryl Morey and Sixers brass at their facility during the early stages of free agency. The tone of those conversations fell in line with what we reported for weeks heading into free agency: The Sixers left the clear impression that they were determined to re-sign Grimes — as well as Guerschon Yabusele — but were likewise fearful of straying into the second luxury tax apron," Fischer wrote.
"Instead? Philly let Yabusele walk to their Atlantic Division neighbors from New York. The Sixers then waited until this week, league sources confirmed, to make a formal contract offer to Grimes, knowing that their pitch would come in at a number far, far lower than the Grimes camp was hoping for."
"After Grimes' gaudy production in March, Bauman has pursued a salary approaching $25 million in average annual value. The Sixers' offer, when it finally came, landed shy of $40 million over four seasons."
"Such a chasm seems to have steered the parties to a point that a one-year pact richer than the Grimes' one-year, $8 million qualifier is the likely end game here. How much richer than $8 million could that one-year deal be worth?"
"Bauman recently proposed that the Sixers and Grimes mutually agree to push back the Oct. 1 deadline on his qualifying offer to Oct. 8, giving everyone time for the Sixers to return home from their overseas obligations. The Sixers, however, have to this point balked at moving the qualifier deadline back."
The Sixers have also been hit with injuries to guard Jared McCain, who suffered a thumb issue, and he will miss weeks of action.
If the franchise was going to trade Grimes, McCain was going to step in and fill his role, but the injury may force the Sixers to keep Grimes, at least for the start of the season.
A bigger, one-year deal allows the Sixers to remove his no-trade clause, which would have been active if he signed the qualifying offer, while Grimes gets a few extra million.
Unless the guard budges on his demands, he is on the path to sign that one-year deal and potentially get traded before the deadline.
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