The Philadelphia 76ers and Quentin Grimes don’t appear to be particularly close on a long-term extension.
NBA reporter Jake Fischer noted Sunday that Grimes was “headed towards” accepting his one-year, $8.7 million qualifying offer and the two sides “remain far apart” in negotiations.
One other possibility is agreeing on a one-year deal worth more than the qualifying offer, though it reportedly would require Grimes to waive his no-trade clause:
Fischer also noted that the Sixers have declined to extend the Oct. 1 deadline for accepting the qualifying offer, and the veteran guard isn’t traveling with the team for its preseason games in Abu Dhabi.
There have been reports that the Sixers offered Grimes a four-year, $39 million deal—well below the $25 million AAV that Tony Jones of the Athletic reported he was seeking back in June—though the team has denied them.
Grimes’ agent David Bauman, meanwhile, told Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice that the Sixers haven’t been “negotiating with us in any way, shape or form.”
To a degree, that makes sense—the Sixers would essentially be negotiating against themselves. There aren’t other teams in the NBA with the cap space to sign Grimes to the type of offer sheet he seems to be seeking, and sign-and-trade offers seemingly haven’t materialized to this point. From the Sixers’ perspective, giving Grimes a deal with an AAV significantly higher than the qualifying offer would be going above the player’s current market.
From Grimes’ perspective, of course, settling for the qualifying offer is hardly ideal from a long-term security perspective, though in the short term it provides him with a no-trade clause and the ability to hit unrestricted free agency in a year.
If there is a meet-in-them-middle number on an extension that both sides would ultimately be happy with, they are running out of time to find it. Otherwise, a potentially perturbed Grimes—who is expected to play an important role for the Sixers in the 2025-26 season—will be rejoining the team on a one-year deal.