Grimes returns to 76ers with $8.7M deal; evaluates NBA future

Restricted player Quentin Grimes has signed a one-year, $8.7 million qualifying offer to return to the Philadelphia 76ers, according to his agent David Bauman. Grimes, who averaged career highs in points (14.6), rebounds (4.3), assists (3), and steals (1) last season, will now have the ability to veto all trades during the 2025-26 season and will enter unrestricted free agency next summer, when at least 10 teams are expected to have significant salary cap space. After Grimes’ camp indicated their desire for a contract in the range of $30 million at the start of free agency, and then an agreement between $20 and $25 million, the two sides never found traction on a new deal this offseason before Wednesday’s 11:59 p.m. ET deadline for the qualifying offer. Bauman said the first formal proposal from the Sixers of the offseason came on September 24, almost three months after the start of free agency, with an offer of four years and $39 million. Days later, Grimes was offered a one-year, $8.8 million deal that gave him $100,000 more than his qualifying offer to waive an inherent no-trade clause. Those frameworks were rejected, Bauman said, and negotiations never advanced. On Wednesday, Bauman said Grimes’ camp offered the 76ers a one-year framework at $17 million, waiving the no-trade clause, and a two-year deal at $34 million with a player option. Both were rejected by the 76ers, Bauman said.

The 76ers selected VJ Edgecombe in the NBA draft to reinforce their backcourt and have faced uncertainty entering the 2025-26 season, given concerns about last season’s injuries surrounding Joel Embiid and Paul George, two factors that challenge their ability to provide a high-value proposition to Grimes this offseason. With Grimes now on the qualifying offer, the 76ers will retain his Bird rights and believe they have a strong chance of retaining him while maintaining the possibility of signing and trading him next summer. Grimes, 25, averaged 21.9 points and 4.5 assists in 28 games with the 76ers after being traded from the Dallas Mavericks at the February deadline. He had five 30-point games and two 40-point games with the 76ers last season. He is set to claim a significant role in the 76ers’ backcourt at the start of this season, as Jared McCain is expected to miss four to six weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb. Grimes was selected with the 25th pick in the 2021 NBA draft and spent his first two seasons with the New York Knicks before being traded to the Detroit Pistons, Mavericks and 76ers from 2023 to 2025. He was the last of the restricted free agents to reach an agreement. Josh Giddey (four years, $100 million with the Bulls), Cam Thomas (one year, $6 million qualifying offer with the Nets), and Jonathan Kuminga (two years, $48.5 million with the Warriors) signed in September. Upon entering free agency, the Nets were among the few teams with significant cap space, which created a freeze for the restricted free agent market. The Nets have operated as the only team with real cap space in the last two months.