Usually, when players find success when their team is actively tanking, it’s unwise to put all your stock into their performance. However, for the Philadelphia 76ers, the late-season emergence of Quentin Grimes, Justin Edwards, Adem Bona, and Jared Butler could be pivotal to their plans for the offseason.
In his latest mock draft for The Athletic, Sam Vecenie revealed that the 76ers want to bridge the gap with players that are currently rostered and add “cost-controlled” talent with the third pick and the 35th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. This report aligns with Daryl Morey’s prior comments about his desire for Philadelphia to become younger and more athletic. The wording of this intel may be a bit confusing, but when you read between the lines, the 76ers’ vision becomes clear.
Why this matters for the 76ers
Currently, Philadelphia’s total cap allocations for the 2025-26 season add up to $177.3 million, which puts it $18.6 million below the first tax apron. Still, the rookie scale contract for the third overall pick will come out to $11.1 million next season. The player options of Kelly Oubre Jr, Andre Drummond, and Eric Gordon total $16.9 million if all three of them accept.
As a reminder, there are many obstacles a team faces when they hit the first tax apron such as not being able to execute sign-and-trades, not having access to the full mid-level exception, the inability to use one or more players in a trade to take back more than 100% of the outgoing salary, etc. This is why it’s crucial that Philadelphia saves money where it can, especially due to its aspirations to re-sign Quentin Grimes and Guerschon Yabusele.
Re-signing Quentin Grimes has become “the priority” for the #Sixers this offseason—as doing so could result to Guerschon Yabusele leaving in free agency, per @therealmikekb.
“Prior to the addition of Grimes at the trade deadline, retaining [Guerschon Yabusele] might have been…
— Philly Sixers Galaxy (@sixers_galaxy) June 10, 2025
This also makes the “cost-controlled” verbiage pertaining to the 76ers’ potential draft selections interesting. Rookie scale contracts decrease the further down a team selects in the first round – meaning if Philadelphia were to trade down for the eighth overall pick, it would only have to pay the player drafted $6.9 million next season. Perhaps this report is trying to signify that the 76ers are interested in trading down, but considering the variety of conflicting reports that have come out, it’s best to take everything with a grain of salt.
The 76ers need to control what they can
The worst case scenario for the 76ers is if all three of their player options are accepted, which should prompt a few salary-dumping trades. There’s still a lot of moving parts of Philadelphia’s offseason finances, but no matter what the outcome, it will inevitably be close to the first tax apron or above it. Assuming one of Yabusele or Grimes is retained, most likely the latter, the 76ers will need to fill their roster out with limited financial resources.
That’s where the low-cost contracts of Philadelphia’s developing youth movement are critical. Lonnie Walker IV, Edwards, and Butler have team options that combine for just $7.2 million. Also, Ricky Council IV and Bona have non-guaranteed salaries that total to $4.2 million. Despite the 76ers’ tanking efforts, Edwards and Bona had convincing rookie campaigns as well as the skill sets to become mainstays in the rotation next season.
ADEM BONA CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF ✈️ https://t.co/arPFwsEcQg pic.twitter.com/IgjbI5asBR
— NBA (@NBA) April 10, 2025
Meanwhile, Philadelphia could cut Walker, Council, and Butler’s salaries, although Butler is a player who should stick around – assuming Dylan Harper isn’t on the roster next season. If the 76ers don’t bring back Walker and Council, they could free up $5.2 million, which could end up being the difference between whether or not they cross into the first tax apron. where they’ll stand in terms of the first tax apron.