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As things presently stand, the Philadelphia 76ers are likely finished making major external moves during the 2025 NBA offseason.
They have a roster sitting at 13 players on standard NBA contracts, three players on two-way deals in Jabari Walker, Hunter Sallis, and Dominick Barlow, and the option to add even more players for camp via the Exhibit 10 deal, of which they have already signed Igor Milicic Jr. and Judah Mintz.
Do the 76ers still have at least one spot they need to fill on their roster? Yes, there is a certain 6-foot-5 guard who is still holding out for a massive payday in restricted free agency, and it looks like that won't be resolved anytime soon. Still, the 76ers have already released Ricky Council IV to free up a spot heading into the fall, a strategy Daryl Morey has been practicing for his entire run in Philadelphia, and thus have a roster spot they could use to improve their team moving forward.
They could further address their frontcourt depth, add a true point guard who can still play at a high level – no offense to Kyle Lowry – or just roll the dice during the buyout market next spring, when they will hopefully be in contention for a top-6 playoff spot in the East and have their mid-level exception to offer to a squad like with Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova back in the day.
Should 76ers fans expect fireworks before opening night, with the 76ers pulling off some sort of blockbuster deal that changes the team both now and for years to come? Probably not, but hey, that doesn't mean there aren't a few more moves left to be done before the start of training camp, including one that could have a major impact on how Morey decides to position the team in the future.
The 76ers need to sign Quentin Grimes to his RFA contract
While the 76ers have made a few moves in free agency, namely signing Walker and Trenton Waford to help fill up power forward minutes, their offseason has largely been on hold because of one player and one player alone: Quentin Grimes.
That's right, if Grimes and the 76ers agreed to a deal from Day 1, Guerschon Yabusele would likely still call Philadelphia home, and the team would be set up for a very interesting 2025-26 campaign. Instead, the market for RFAs has been absolutely brutal, with very few teams holding the cap space needed for offer sheets, and agents looking for any angle to squeeze a few more dollars out of their client's team.
With Jonathan Kuminga and Josh Giddey still unsigned, Grimes' market remains at a standstill, too, as Grimes is expected to earn less money than both players moving forward, making their final contracts very useful measuring sticks. Still, eventually, the market will resolve itself as camp approaches, and unless Grimes believes he can elevate his stock even further as a supplemental player instead of a focal point, he will end up on a long-term deal instead of accepting a much lower qualifying offer.
Assuming Grimes isn't included in a sign-and-trade, which, again, feels unlikely, he will rejoin the 76ers as their likely starter next to Tyrese Maxey moving forward, where he will play with and in place of VJ Edgecombe in Nick Nurse's rotation. While only time will tell how long he sticks with the team, as a huge effort from Edgecombe could make him expendable by the 2026 NBA trade deadline, the first hurdle Philly needs to clear is getting Grimes under contract, as everything else will flow from there.
The 76ers need to settle on their two-way players
Even if the 76ers are a Grimes signing away from locking their roster heading into the fall, one area of wiggle room is their two-way contracts, where the team has already experienced some movement during the summer.
Of their three players currently signed to two-way deals, Walker likely has the strongest hold on his position, as some fans didn't even expect to see him sign for less than the veteran minimum. A soon-to-be-year player out of Colorado, Walker spent the first three years of his NBA career in Portland, where he played with future 76ers teammate Waford on the Trail Blazers. While Walker isn't a tried and true 3-point shooter just yet, he is an energy guy who can contribute as a rim runner, cutter, and rebounder at both ends of the court. If the 76ers do any sort of consolidation deal this season, expect Walker to be the player who gets called up.
The 76ers landed another surprising two-way option in Sallis, who many assumed would hear his name called in the 2025 NBA Draft. A 22-year-old prospect out of Wake Forrest, Sallis is an interesting guard option capable of playing either guard spot at the NBA level, even if he's more of a scorer than a passer at this stage of his career. At 6-foot-5, he has NBA size not too dissimilar to former Nurse favorite Jeff Dowtin, but with a backcourt absolutely loaded with NBA players, it will be interesting to see if Sallis actually sees much NBA action this fall, or if he will instead be mostly used in Delaware.
And last but not least, there's Barlow, who joined the team earlier this month following a 2024-25 tenure with the Atlanta Hawks. Barlow is another forward with upside and has effectively taken the spot of Alex Reese, who was waived earlier in the summer. Barlow is probably the least safe of the trio and will have to prove he can play at a high level this summer if he wants to still be on the roster this fall, especially with Milicic Jr. and Mintz waiting in the wings.
Once the 76ers settle on their 14 man roster plus three two-way talents, from there, all they will have to do is actually play the games, see who rises to the occasion, who fails to live up to expectations, and what moved need to be made in February, be that as buyers, sellers, or something in between.
