As always, Tuesday mornings call for Sixers mailbags. Predictably, the leading subject in this week's batch of questions was Quentin Grimes, whose restricted free agency has now lasted more than five weeks. Today's trio of questions perfectly encapsulates Philadelphia: nerves, skepticism and just enough optimism to keep wondering.
Let's dive in:
From @kellenpastore.bsky.social: In the seemingly unlikely situation in which Quentin Grimes takes the qualifying offer, what possibilities are there for the Sixers with the resulting extra cap space?
First of all, I wholeheartedly agree with your qualification that Grimes taking his qualifying offer -- a one-year, $8.7 million deal that comes with a no-trade clause and direct path to unrestricted free agency next summer -- is extremely unlikely. The theory behind taking the qualifying offer is not totally illogical, but it almost never happens and when it has happened it has not produced good results for the players taking massive leaps of faith. It is an especially massive gamble for someone like Grimes, whose four years in the NBA have only netted him about $11 million. Grimes has experienced the volatility of the NBA as much as anyone, having been traded three times in a very short span (a question on this is coming shortly). It is a massively difficult sell to not secure long-term money and generational wealth, even if that contract does not reflect what the league knows Grimes' value should be in a vacuum.
How much salary cap relief would the Sixers inherit from that decision? Extremely little. Because they are already significantly over the salary cap and within striking distance of the first apron at 13 players, Grimes taking the qualifying offer would merely enable the Sixers to fill their final roster spot with the taxpayer's mid-level exception — worth up to two years and $11.6 million — if they even want to fill it at all.
First of all, almost all free agents worth considering paying at a price tag above the veteran's minimum salary have already gone off the board. On top of that, the Sixers would be able to use the tax MLE and stay below the second apron after re-signing Grimes on a long-term deal as long as his 2025-26 salary does not exceed about $16.2 million. It barely even qualifies as a marginal advantage.
Given the makeup of the Sixers' cap sheet, at this point in the offseason there is next to no functional difference between Grimes taking the qualifying offer for $8.7 million and, say, a deal with a starting salary of $15 million. There is zero upside to Grimes taking the qualifying offer on the team side, as there is essentially zero short-term advantage gained while long-term control is lost. There is not much of a pivot.
MORE: Checking in on Quentin Grimes, Joel Embiid attends a Phillies game, more
*From @dwatson9.bsky.social:*While it feels appropriate to be pessimistic right now, there is a nonzero chance that Joel Embiid and Paul George get healthy during the season. If Embiid is back to All-NBA level and George is playing like an All-Star, how would you feel about this Sixers team?
Obviously, Embiid's availability (or lack thereof) and production when on the floor are the two biggest swing factors for the Sixers' outcome in any season. But even if he plays on a semi-regular basis at a level resembling his prior All-NBA form, it might not catapult the Sixers into being championship contenders on its own. It would certainly give them a chance in the Eastern Conference, where injuries have devastated the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers, the last two teams to represent the conference in the NBA Finals.
Still, it would be challenging to feel as if the Sixers were real championship contenders without George producing at a level even vaguely in line with his $51.6 million salary. George is a nine-time All-Star, and as things stand now it is difficult to envision him ever reaching double-digits. That is not just derived from his diminished performance in his first year with the Sixers, but also the increasing availability concerns surrounding the 35-year-old.
For as long as the Sixers are paying three max contracts -- Embiid is on a supermax, George is on a deal nearly as large and Tyrese Maxey is "only" on a five-year deal worth over $200 million -- they are going to have depth that reflects the massive investments they have made in the top three spots of their cap sheet. That makes it essential to receive star-caliber production (or better) from Embiid, George and Maxey.
If they somehow can get all of that? Nothing is out of the question. There are holes and red flags elsewhere in the roster, but not ones that cannot be patched up if the front office feels justified in upgrading the roster. Jared McCain will need to pick up where he left off last fall. VJ Edgecombe will need to find a path to contributing to a contending rotation as a rookie. Grimes will have to be locked in, of course. Adem Bona has to stabilize the backup center spot and Andre Drummond or Johni Broome will need to be serviceable behind him. Those all feel like more achievable goals than getting Embiid and George at their best on a regular basis.
MORE: Who is ideal Sixers trade target if things go well?
*From @mehoffman.bsky.socual:*Grimes has been traded from team to team like a hot potato these past few years, despite having the profile and production of a versatile and coveted role player. There have been intimations here and there that he keeps wearing out his welcome, but no solid reporting as to why. What's the deal?
I understand where this skepticism is coming from, because there are absolutely NBA players that feel undervalued year after year because of underlying concerns, whether it be with the player's mental makeup or anything else. However, I feel comfortable saying Grimes is not such a case. He has been traded three times in his career -- first from the New York Knicks to the Detroit Pistons, then from Detroit to the Dallas Mavericks, then from the Mavericks to the Sixers -- and it is not ideal. But it is also not some sort of indication that Grimes is "wearing out his welcome" with any kind of character concerns. Each trade had its own set of circumstances:
• Grimes quickly emerged as a starting shooting guard in New York, but a rough stretch to open last season. His new backup, Donte DiVincenzo, began what turned into one of the best three-point shooting seasons in recent NBA history. As Jalen Brunson turned into a superstar, the Knicks' focus shifted from developing Grimes to maximizing their short-term win total. DiVincenzo became the starter, and when New York was looking for playoff-ready veterans to come off their bench in the trade market, they found a match in the Pistons. Giving up Grimes, whose role had diminished, was the cost to get them Bojan Bogdanović and Alec Burks.
• Injuries limited Grimes to just six appearances down the stretch of the season for a miserable Pistons team. Then the Mavericks called, looking to dump Tim Hardaway Jr. and his massive expiring contract on one of the few teams with the financial capacity to take on the deal so they could eventually execute a sign-and-trade for Klay Thompson. But Hardaway was still a rotation-caliber player, as he proved with the Pistons in 2024-25, and the Mavericks needed a replacement. Grimes was Dallas-bound, and his fit with the Mavericks appeared pristine through three-plus months of action.
• Then Dallas completely upended years of roster-building with the Luka Dončić trade. One of the key pieces they received was Max Christie, who from a size perspective is very similar to Grimes and was set to occupy an extremely similar role. Christie was in the first season of a four-year deal and suddenly had to be part of Dallas' core. With Grimes nearing restricted free agency, Dallas decided to use him to bolster its wing rotation. The idea was not indefensible, but the execution -- trading Grimes and a premium second-round pick for a banged-up Caleb Martin -- was brutal. Even at the time, the pure value of that trade seemed to definitively favor the Sixers. But, again, it was not a product of Grimes' team souring on him, but a unique set of circumstances leading to him being an odd man out.
Grimes is 25 years old, very good as a perimeter defender, an excellent three-point shooter and displayed significant newfound on-ball scoring chops in the final two months of his fourth NBA season. Whenever his restricted free agency is resolved, the Sixers will be thrilled to have Grimes on board again -- even if he is the fourth-most important guard on their roster in the distant future.
MORE: Diving into Grimes' emergence as a scorer and ball-handler
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