It’s probably logical to assume that at least entering the 2025-26 season, Quentin Grimes was just playing out his contract and his days as a Sixer were numbered. After all, Grimes and the Sixers were at odds all summer and the two sides seemingly never got close on a long-term deal. In the end, Grimes ended his time as a restricted free agent by accepting a one-year qualifying offer to return to Philadelphia, something that did not happen until training camp had already opened for the current season.
The optics of the situation didn’t exactly lead anyone to believe that Grimes and the Sixers were going to continue their partnership beyond the summer of 2026. After all, when you negotiate for a while and reach an impasse and a restricted free agent finally decides to accept a qualifying offer, said free agent is probably just looking for the stalemate to end and become an unrestricted free agent the following offseason. However, in selecting VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia spent the third overall pick on a guard last offseason and the thought entering the season was that Jared McCain would work his way back into the rotation.
Given Tyrese Maxey was locked up on a max contract, it seemed obvious that Grimes would be the odd-man out in the backcourt and eventually move on in the summer of 2026 when the market for him would seemingly be bigger as an unrestricted free agent. Well, it should come as no surprise to anyone that things did not go according to plan in Philly’s backcourt, because when does anything go according to planned for this franchise?
McCain spent the first 3-4 months getting back up to game speed and even got sent down to the G League in January. In February, McCain was traded to Oklahoma City and now in March, Maxey is dealing with a finger injury and is sidelined for an extended period of time. That leaves Grimes playing a lot of minutes in a Sixers uniform for the second season in a row.
Last season, Philly simply needed bodies as the Sixers dealt with a ton of injuries and prying Grimes out of a toxic environment in Dallas seemed to be a dice roll worth taking. Of course, Edgecombe was still in college at this time one year ago. When Grimes seemed to hit it off as a Sixer, debates ensued about the credibility of his production and how much it could be trusted to carry over given how barren the rotation got down the stretch. Someone had to put the ball in the hoop, and it happened to be Grimes more than almost anyone else wearing a Sixers uniform.
It was this very production from Grimes that likely led to such a rift between the player and the organization in contract talks last summer. Now, here we are again, and Grimes is gobbling up minutes for the Sixers and putting up some decent offensive numbers. It remains to be seen if the Sixers can even get out of the play-in tournament, but we should get a look at what Grimes can do for the franchise in postseason games of some kind next month which should only help the front office evaluate his worth moving forward.
An interesting wrinkle in all of this is that a lot of Grimes’ recent offensive production has been inside the arc. He’s showcasing more of an ability to drive to the basket and finish around the rim as his shooting numbers are down significantly in the month of March. That’s certainly some newer information for everyone to consider as Grimes could be in the process of proving he can be more than a spot-up shooter when necessary.
With McCain no longer with the organization, might the Sixers be more motivated to strike a deal with Grimes? Having said that, Grimes turns 26 in the beginning of May. He knows now’s his time to get the big payday and the gap between Grimes and the Sixers in last year’s negotiations certainly indicates that too. It’s also worth noting the team has his Bird rights, making it so he could theoretically get his most lucrative deal in Philly, barring a sign-and-trade. Grimes certainly looks like a player that can be a solid sixth man and, in this day and age of the NBA, you better expect your sixth man to start a lot of games too.
Grimes has shown he can do both having started 25 of the 28 games he appeared in with the Sixers last season, but only making 16 starts so far this season. Ultimately, my two cents says we’re no closer to figuring out how long Grimes remains a Sixer than we were last summer. There’s a good chance the extended playing time Grimes is getting only empowers him further to dig in on his contract demands from the 2025 offseason. But maybe Grimes plays a key role for the Sixers in the postseason this year and the two sides realize they’re better off with each other moving forward.
It’s like that relationship that ebbs and flows and comes and goes. Sometimes the guy and the girl are both into each other, other times they hate each other and through it all, they’re never really sure if they’re dating or just screwing around and seeing what happens. Well, something’s going to happen in a little over three months with Grimes and the Sixers. We’ll see if one side says thanks for the memories or if they decide that some more time together is what they want.
