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Despite coming off a career season and being considered a priority by the Philadelphia 76ers to retain this offseason, restricted free agent guard Quentin Grimes remains without a new deal as Sixers Media Day and the team’s trip to Abu Dhabi rapidly approach.

Amid the stalemate between the two sides, HoopsHype has gathered the latest intel on where Grimes and the 76ers stand, contract concepts that have been discussed, and what the likely outcome will be.

Where the Sixers stand

From Philadelphia’s perspective, there are several variables to consider amid the restricted free agency negotiations with Grimes.

Over the summer, Andre Drummond ($5 million) and Kelly Oubre ($8.38 million) each exercised their player options for this season. Both players have been mentioned as trade candidates to create more money to re-sign Grimes while staying below the second apron, but no trade talks have come to fruition to this point.

Furthermore, Philadelphia is loaded at guard with Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain, and third overall pick VJ Edgecombe. The 76ers want to figure out if McCain’s production over the first 23 games of his rookie campaign is sustainable before he suffered a lateral meniscus tear, and whether or not Edgecombe will become the player they believe he can be before committing big money to Grimes with max players already on the roster, including Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Maxey.

Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that McCain just suffered a UCL tear in his right thumb during a workout ahead of Media Day and is working with the 76ers and consultants to figure out a treatment plan going forward. McCain’s playing time would likely be filled by Edgecombe and Grimes.

Outside of the 76ers, the Brooklyn Nets are the only team currently with cap space to theoretically tender an offer sheet, but that possibility hasn’t gotten much traction, league sources told HoopsHype.

Looking ahead, should Grimes remain with Philadelphia through the trade deadline, the 76ers would retain his Bird Rights, which they believe gives them the best chance to retain him long term, despite his unrestricted free agency flexibility.

Where Grimes stands

After a summer where Grimes was publicly discussed as a priority for the 76ers to retain and part of the reason why Guerschon Yabusele wasn’t re-signed in free agency, Grimes received his first formal offer from the organization on Wednesday, September 24, which left him disappointed, league sources told HoopsHype.

Grimes believes he’s already shown he can be more than a 3-and-D caliber player after expanding his game as a starter following the trade to Philadelphia. In 25 games started after the trade, Grimes averaged 23 points while shooting efficiently from the field (.472) and beyond the arc (.381), with 5.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.6 steals.

With Sixers Media Day, Philadelphia’s trip to Abu Dhabi rapidly approaching, and where negotiations stand, a long-term deal is highly unlikely due to the wide gap in evaluation, league sources told HoopsHype.

Contract structures and concepts

After months of dialogue, several concepts were discussed between the two sides about a potential new deal.

Towards the start of free agency, Grimes and his agent, David Bauman of The Familie, pitched long-term scenarios where his starting salary would be closer to the $17.5-21 million range with team flexibility on the back end, league sources told HoopsHype.

More recently, one concept loosely pitched by Philadelphia was a four-year, $39 million structure, Bauman told HoopsHype. That would essentially be Grimes' qualifying offer with an eight percent average annual raise each season of the contract. Such a concept would also equate to only 5.6 percent of the salary cap, which is well below the typical percentage of the cap for starters or sixth men.

At this point, the 76ers have formally offered Grimes a one-year deal that’s slightly higher than his qualifying offer of $8.7 million with the caveat that he’d waive his no-trade clause, league sources told HoopsHype.

For Grimes to waive his no-trade clause flexibility on any one-year deal, Philadelphia’s offer would preferably be somewhere north of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($14 million) and $19 million range, league sources told HoopsHype.

This range would maintain Philadelphia’s flexibility below the second apron. In addition, should a team over the salary cap trade for Grimes, it would be able to offer him a 20 percent salary increase from the range noted above during free agency in the summer of 2026.

Should no balloon one-year offer come to fruition, Grimes will strongly consider signing his one-year, $8.7 million qualifying offer and retaining his no-trade clause flexibility, league sources told HoopsHype.

Thus, with talks at this current stalemate, Grimes and Bauman requested that the qualifying offer date be pushed back beyond October 1 to give both sides more optionality.

What's the likely outcome?

With the deadline looming, the outcome for Grimes and the 76ers is trending towards a one-year deal, league sources told HoopsHype.

At this point, it’s a matter of whether both sides can find common ground on a balloon one-year offer, or if Grimes will prioritize a no-trade clause with his qualifying offer salary of $8.7 million.

You can follow Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Blue Sky (@MikeAScotto).

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Inside the free agency stalemate of Quentin Grimes and the 76ers

Reporting by Michael Scotto, Hoops Hype / Hoops Hype

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