On Monday, ESPN’s Bobby Marks highlighted 12 potential free agents who’ve gotten off to a hot start in the 2025-26 season as his “Contract-Year All-Stars.” He excluded players who’ve previously made an
All-Star or All-NBA team, which automatically disqualified the likes of LeBron James, James Harden and Trae Young.
That opened the door for two Sixers to make the cut.
Marks named Quentin Grimes as one of the Contract-Year All-Star starters, alongside Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Jalen Duren and Norman Powell. So far, Grimes’ decision to bet on himself by taking the one-year, $8.7 million qualifying offer looks like it might pay off.
Grimes hasn’t started in any of the Sixers’ first 11 games this season, but he’s effectively playing starter minutes off the bench. He’s averaging 17.2 points, 4.4 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 three-pointers while shooting a career-best 47.0 percent overall, 39.7 percent from deep and 81.3 percent from the charity stripe.
Grimes has also been a major reason why the Sixers’ three-guard lineups are working this year. The trio of Grimes, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe played 141 minutes together through the first 10 games of the season, and the Sixers had a net rating of plus-17.7 with them on the floor. That’s the best net rating of any Sixers trio that has played at least 100 minutes together thus far.
Heading into this past offseason, Grimes’ camp was reportedly eyeing a deal worth around $30 million per year, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. They eventually came down to a $20-25 million annual salary, but the Sixers reportedly weren’t willing to go much higher than his qualifying offer. It’s fair to wonder what would have happened if they offered him something around three years and $45 million. They might grow to regret not making such an offer, if they haven’t already.
Grimes also seems to be unhappy with how those negotiations played out. On Tuesday, news broke that he signed with CAA, which represents fellow Sixers Paul George and Kelly Oubre Jr. as well. Grimes’ previous agent, David Bauman, does not represent any other active players in the NBA. (He used to be the agent for Andrew Bogut, Reggie Bullock and Metta World Peace, among others.)
Oubre is the other Sixer who cracked Marks’ list of Contract-Year All-Stars. As Marks noted, Oubre has developed into a far more well-rounded player since initially signing a one-year, veteran-minimum contract with the Sixers in September 2023. He’s averaging 18.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 made threes, 1.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocks this season (albeit in a career-high 37.2 minutes per game) while shooting a personal-best 51.1 percent overall and 38.3 percent from three-point range.
While the Sixers’ season flatlined last year, Oubre was one of the only players who consistently gave a good effort night in and night out. This year, in Paul George’s absence, he’s being forced to masquerade as a power forward alongside the Sixers’ three-guard lineups, and he’s thriving in that role. Even if (when) his shooting percentages regress to the mean, his attentiveness as a driver, cutter and rebounder should earn him some looks in free agency next summer.
Since Oubre is only on a two-year contract, the Sixers are not allowed to extend him before he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The good news is that they’ll now have full Bird rights on him since he hasn’t changed teams in free agency since his arrival in Philly. That means they can offer him anything up to a max contract even though they project to be well over the 2026-27 salary cap.
If Oubre thought such an offer was on the table this past offseason, he wouldn’t have picked up his $8.4 million player option. The constant leaguewide hunt for 3-and-D wings could help him cash in next summer, though, particularly if his early-season shooting proves to be somewhat sustainable.
The Sixers currently have only seven players under contract for the 2026-27 season and project to be roughly $31.9 million below the first apron and $44.9 million below the second apron based on the estimated $166 million salary cap. If the cap comes in higher than expected—it could rise as high as $170 million—they’d have a bit more wiggle room under both aprons. But if Grimes and Oubre both continue their strong play, it might be tough for the Sixers to re-sign both while staying under the second apron.
That’s a problem for another day, though. For now, Sixers fans can enjoy watching Oubre and Grimes ball out without worrying about their eventual paydays next summer.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Salary Swish and salary-cap information via RealGM.
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