The Philadelphia 76ers will see half of their roster end up being flight risks this offseason as they could all possibly hit the open market. As such, their brain trust have no choice but to double down on free agency. Two of their key cogs in Kelly Oubre Jr. and Quentin Grimes, however, are basically non-negotiables to keep this summer. While that may look like an easy call, it would actually prompt the franchise to do what their ownership despises.
As laid down by ESPN's Tim Bontemps in his recent piece, the 76ers will go deep into the luxury tax if they end up re-signing not one of, but both Oubre and Grimes. Problem is, the team simply cannot afford to let any one of them walk away for nothing. Both players fill necessary roles on the team, and they are not exactly going to be cheap to retain.
Oubre and Grimes are expected to command pay raises in their next deals. The former is definitely due for a salary increase after gifting the 76ers with a couple of bargain bin contracts. Meanwhile, the latter is coming off a down year, but his production still necessitates some form of a pay raise for better or for worse.
The 76ers have no choice but to go deep into the luxury tax to keep their key free agents
Much to the fans' chagrin, the 76ers have become adamant about cutting costs and avoiding the luxury tax in recent years. That is precisely why they have pulled off some unpopular decisions as of late, such as the Jared McCain trade that got everyone thinking about whether their ownership group really intends for this team to succeed meaningfully.
Josh Harris and company have become too frugal for the 76ers to mount the best lineup it can parade. That has to change, though. Obviously, depth is already a critical weakness of this particular group, and not retaining the services of one of their starters and their nominal sixth man will be an instant death knell for their chances next season.
Both Oubre and Grimes are far from invincible weapons, but they nevertheless fill crucial roles for the 76ers. As such, their free agency situation will be especially interesting, if only to gauge how strongly the franchise really feels about their competitive bid moving forward. Hopefully, they will willingly pay the price for having an ambitious edict spreadeagled across the organization. Otherwise, they might as well just give up on winning a title moving forward.
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