Quentin Grimes, 76ers agree to one-year contract: Sources

The Philadelphia 76ers have reached an agreement with restricted free agent shooting guard Quentin Grimes, league sources told The Athletic on Wednesday. Grimes has signed the one-year qualifying offer for $8.7 million, which will include a no-trade clause.

Grimes is now officially the final restricted free agent to come off the market, and the second of the four major restricted free agents, along with Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas, to sign the qualifying offer. It essentially means that Grimes, originally a 2021 first-round pick by the LA Clippers before being traded to the New York Knicks, will be betting on himself this season. He will play out the year, and then will become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

The Sixers and Grimes had been in communication and trying to work on the structure of a one-year deal. That would have been a balloon payment designed to get Grimes to waive his no-trade clause. Grimes and his camp and the Sixers front office were ultimately far apart on what that deal would pay, which is why the 25-year-old decided to take the qualifying offer.

With Philadelphia in Abu Dhabi set to open its preseason schedule Thursday against the Knicks, Grimes has missed media day, the first two days of training camp, subsequent practice time in Abu Dhabi and will miss the first two preseason games, which constitutes half the preseason slate. With all of that said, the Sixers need Grimes in the fold as soon as possible.

Grimes projects as one of Philadelphia’s most important pieces in a potentially explosive backcourt featuring star guard Tyrese Maxey, second-year guard Jared McCain (who will miss at least the next four weeks due to having surgery to repair an injured thumb) and rookie guard V.J. Edgecombe.

Grimes is valuable in this quartet for multiple reasons: He’s the best and most versatile defender of the group, and he’s the one player among the four capable of playing all three perimeter spots. The ability to move Grimes around should allow 76ers head coach Nick Nurse to get him on the floor without sacrificing time and player development for McCain and Edgecombe. That versatility will make Grimes valuable to a Sixers team facing pressure to win at a high level.

(Photo of Grimes: Kyle Ross / Imagn)