ESPN’s Shams Charania first reported Wednesday night that Quentin Grimes will return to the 76ers on a one-year, $8.7 million deal. Charania said it includes an inherent no-trade clause. After such a stellar season, Grimes is signing a deal that will allow him to once again play for a bigger contract next offseason, except this time he will be unrestricted. Grimes was dealt last season from Dallas to Philadelphia with a second-round pick (that became Johni Broome) for Caleb Martin.
At the time of
the trade, this was a bad exchange for Dallas. Not only is Grimes a far superior player to Caleb Martin, but giving up a pick instead of receiving one never made any sense. In essence, general manager Nico Harrison took a gamble that Grimes was going to get paid a sizeable amount. Martin is making $9.5 million this season, $10 million in 2026-27, and a $9.3 million player option in 2027-28 on his current contract. Harrison assumed that Grimes would probably get somewhere between $15 and $20 million, making it much harder for Dallas to match that contract. Now, Grimes will make less money than Martin next year and quickly becomes one of the best value players in the entire NBA.
For a team that is clamoring for flexibility, this turn of events is predictable and bad, both at the moment the trade happened and now in hindsight. To get Harrison’s defense out of the way, the employment of Martin over Grimes allows Dallas to have a tradeable contract for three more years. It also removes the possibility for Grimes to walk next summer for nothing, given that Dallas inevitably would not pay him the money he wants. In reality, this is just another poor decision by the Mavericks’ general manager. He miscalculated Grimes’ market, and by a lot, evidenced by the fact that he gave up a pick with him to get Martin back. He also misjudged Martin’s ability, which is impressive considering Martin was hurt at the time of the trade and not great when he was on the floor anyway.
The Mavericks are in win-now mode, as stated many times by the guy who constructed this roster. Grimes, on this cheaper contract, would have given Dallas more flexibility and more guard talent on a roster starved of it.
