Quentin Grimes’ restricted free agency is mercifully nearing its end after a three-month standoff. His $8.7 million qualifying offer automatically expires on Oct. 1, so one way or another, he figures to be
under contract by Wednesday at the latest.
The exact terms of that contract are still very much unclear, though.
Grimes’ agent, David Bauman, has been leaking to reporters over the past few days like he was the Titanic. He’s told Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype and Gina Mizell of the Philadelphia Inquirer that the Sixers’ first formal offer, which they made this past week, was a four-year, $39 million contract. The Sixers “strongly refuted” that to both Mizell and Aaronson, and a Sixers source told Aaronson that “the team’s numbers-centric discussions with Grimes have only revolved around potential ranges based on different contract lengths and structures.”
Heading into free agency, Tony Jones of The Athletic reported that Grimes was “looking for a contract that averages $25 million per season.” According to Fischer, the Sixers had conversations with Grimes’ camp throughout the offseason “about various frameworks and salary-cap percentages, but those talks never generated a substantive offer from Philadelphia until this week because the Sixers realized how substantial the gulf between the sides really was.”
In other words, Grimes’ camp and the Sixers are negotiating like they’re current members of Congress. They’re just talking past one another rather than trying to meet in the middle and find a compromise that could make sense for both sides.
Let’s start with Grimes, who was one of the few silver linings from the Sixers’ dismal 2024-25 campaign. He was undeniably incredible during his short tenure with the Sixers, averaging 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.9 made threes and 1.5 steals in 33.7 minutes per game across 28 appearances. However, he put up those numbers on an injury-ravaged team that was playing out the string on a lost season. He isn’t going to be the No. 1 option on the Sixers—or any realistic title hopeful—moving forward.
Josh Giddey, who has far more of a track record in the NBA, just signed a four-year, $100 million contract with the Chicago Bulls worth a flat $25 million each season. After the Bulls traded Zach LaVine to the Sacramento Kings in late January, Giddey averaged 19.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 2.0 threes and 1.4 steals in 33.0 minutes per game across his final 26 regular-season games.
There are legitimate questions about Giddey’s viability in the playoffs, but given their respective NBA careers to date, Grimes’ camp expecting the same AAV that Giddey just received is lunacy. The Sixers are absolutely justified in wanting to see how Grimes’ production translates to their full-strength roster before making that type of a financial commitment.
They aren’t getting off scot-free here, though. Regardless of whether they formally offered Grimes a four-year, $39 million deal or not, the Sixers are overplaying their hand. They’re looking to exploit the leverage that restricted free agency gives them, but they’re seemingly underrating the long-term damage that they might be doing with Grimes and his camp.
“Right now, Quentin feels a lot of disrespect coming from [team president Daryl Morey] and the Sixers,” Bauman told Aaronson.
A Sixers source told Aaronson that they’re “are aware that if Grimes returns to the organization in the near future, they could have work to do in terms of making him feel valued and appreciated. Talks are already ongoing between high-ranking figures within the organization about how to best go about doing that.” Money talks best, though.
Aaronson noted that the Sixers are concerned that “a multiyear deal with Grimes aging poorly would put the team in too dangerous of a position financially” thanks to the max deals they handed Joel Embiid and Paul George last offseason. (If only someone warned them about the downsides of a three-max build!) He added that the Sixers “do not seem confident that Grimes would agree to any long-term deal that they consider to be safely cost-effective.”
If Grimes and his camp refuse to budge from the $25 million AAV, then yes, the two sides won’t be able to find common ground. The Sixers are less than $22 million below the second apron, and it would be foolish to cross it just to re-sign him when the $8.7 million qualifying offer is also on the table as a worst-case scenario. What’s the harm in at least offering him more than a $10 million AAV to put the ball back in his court, though?
Even if the Sixers offer Grimes something in the neighborhood of a three-year, $45 million deal, they’d still stay far enough under the second apron to maintain access to the $5.7 million taxpayer mid-level exception. (Color me extremely skeptical that they’ll actually use it given their recent history of shedding salary at the trade deadline.) The only real downside is that the Sixers would have a larger luxury-tax bill, which should concern absolutely no one other than the Sixers’ ownership group.
Perhaps the Sixers lowballed Grimes as a negotiation tactic after seeing how unrealistic his demands were, but it’s well past time for both sides to stop messing around. The Oct. 1 qualifying offer deadline is fast approaching, and his taking the QO would be the worst-case scenario for both sides. His Bird rights won’t convey with him if he takes the QO or signs a one-year balloon deal, which would limit how much his new team can spend to re-sign him next summer. That could also affect how much teams are willing to offer for him in a trade.
Both the Sixers and Grimes have real incentive to find a compromise that doesn’t involve him taking his qualifying offer, but you’d never know it based on how they’ve approached negotiations thus far. They now have only two days to try to find a reasonable middle ground.
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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