For as much as this organization got wrong in the past year, calling up the team that willingly traded Luka Doncic has worked out pretty well.
The Sixers made the second-most lopsided trade with the Dallas Mavericks this past season, acquiring Quentin Grimes and a second-round pick for Caleb Martin. Initially it was only the Sixers receiving a second from the Mavs, but Martin’s medical allowed Dallas to rework the deal and acquire a second-rounder from Philly as well.
They probably wish they had just
voided the trade though, as Grimes went on an absolute heater upon arriving in Philadelphia. In 28 games he would average 21.9 points per game, which would almost double his career high. He did so shooting 46.9% from the field while making 37.3% of the seven threes he took a night. He also averaged 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game during this time. Martin on the other hand, took almost another month before he was healthy enough to make his Mavericks debut.
It did not result in much winning for the Sixers — they would only win four more games after the trade — but that’s hardly the fault of Grimes. Most of his teammates were not in the NBA prior to this stretch, and many of them are not on an NBA roster as a new season is set to kick off.
Previewing how Grimes will follow this up feels a bit odd as so much of the conversation around him is speculating on the contract he is hoping to receive. As it still stands, Grimes is still a restricted free agent, with no apparent end in sight to this stand off that is keeping him unsigned. While that may all end with Grimes taking the qualifying offer, an outcome that really wouldn’t be good for anyone, it basically guarantees he will be playing for the Sixers at least next season. There’s also been some reporting that the Sixers could still make some tweaks to their roster once Grimes’ situation is resolved, despite the season quickly approaching.
One of, if not the biggest reason Grimes is still unsigned, is that the high-paying role he desires, one that produces at a level he did at the end of last season, will not be available to him this upcoming one. The ball, and subsequently any shot he desired, was constantly in his hands and within his control. His 27.5% usage rate with the Sixers was easily the highest of his career, per Cleaning the Glass, a rate that was in the 90th percentile across the league.
Those chances will drastically decrease now that he will presumably actually share the court with Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain, as well as No. 3 overall pick VJ Edgecombe. That’s not even accounting for if Paul George or Joel Embiid suit up consistently. Embiid especially dominates touches, averaging a usage rate in the mid thirties.
While this argument might not be the one his agent is using at the moment to get that payday, Grimes still has a skillset that makes him well suited to fade into the background a bit. As a good three-point shooter he’s always been a helpful floor spacer. He shot 41.7% on catch-and-shoot threes with the Sixers last season.
He’s always been a solid defender as well. While his scoring production here did seem to impact how much he was able to give on that end, his length and feel for the game still helped post career-best steal numbers. The 1.5 per game average, as well as the 1.9% steal rate were also the highest he’s put up.
With the sudden injection of youth to the position, the Sixers have too much talent there to not play a lot of three-guard lineups. Grimes’ ability to not just defend at a high level, but guard up a position or two, will go a long way in determining how viable those lineups are, especially with Maxey and McCain being undersized guards. As someone who’s pretty strong and long for 6-foot-5, it’s something Grimes is capable of.
Grimes will not return as the No. 1 option like he was for most of his Sixers tenure, but that doesn’t mean he needs to completely fade into the background. He certainly showed more as three-level scorer in his time here than George as someone who can actually still get to the rim. If this team is competing in any type of form, he might make more sense as the true third option.
It feels easy to say now that the role for Grimes in 2025-26 will be significantly different than 24-25, but that doesn’t make it easy to guess what the role will be. There could be three or four different versions of this team, all with varying amounts of players with a high profile who could demand a lot of touches. It’s honestly no wonder that this restricted free agency stalemate has lasted the entire offseason. With the deadline for the qualifying offer looming in the first week of October, answers for some of these questions are finally on the horizon.
