Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey was eager to bring Quentin Grimes back for the 2025-26 campaign. Morey made that much clear during Media Day, as nothing was set in stone days before training camp. Still, the 76ers GM remained optimistic.
Now, Grimes appears to be headed toward an $8.7 million qualifying offer with the 76ers for the upcoming season, as The Stein Line's Jake Fischer reported.
“Short of agreeing to a one-year “balloon” payment, Grimes appears headed towards accepting that $8.7 million QO,” Fischer reported. “The two sides remain far apart, and a Philadelphia source with knowledge of talks strongly refuted the 4-year, $39 million offer Bauman has explained on the record.”
This comes after Fischer's initial report of Grimes not being on the 76ers' team flight for the upcoming preseason after missing Media Day.
“Restricted free agent guard Quentin Grimes is not on the Sixers’ team flight for preseason games in Abu Dhabi,” Fischer initially reported. “Philadelphia has also declined the request from Grimes’ agent, David Bauman, to push back the 10/1 deadline to accept his qualifying offer.”
As time passed, Grimes' value essentially dipped far past the range that his agent, David Bauman, was seeking in free agency, Fischer noted.
“After Grimes' gaudy production in March, Bauman has pursued a salary approaching $25 million in average annual value. The Sixers' offer, when it finally came, landed shy of $40 million over four seasons. Sources say that there were conversations between the parties in Las Vegas during Summer League and 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.”
Contract stalemate between Quentin Grimes, 76ers ends
It appears that Quentin Grimes and the 76ers reached a stalemate in contract negotiations similar to that of the Warriors and Jonathan Kuminga. In hopes of securing a long-term deal at a high value based on Quentin Grimes' late regular-season production, Grimes will head into the upcoming season on an $8.7 million deal to prove himself to the 76ers and the rest of the NBA, as ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel alluded to during the offseason.
“A long-term deal is pretty much out of the question for Grimes at this juncture,” Siegel reported. “The likely scenarios are either Grimes accepting his qualifying offer or the 76ers giving Grimes a one-year deal with an inflated value above $15 million.”
The 76ers will face the Knicks in their preseason opener on Thursday.
