The Philadelphia 76ers remain on the fences in their free agency negotiations with Quentin Grimes. The restricted free agent’s camp, as well as the front office, remain at a crossroads on a mutually acceptable figure for the 25-year-old’s new deal, and as a result, the situation remains unresolved at this very juncture.
While some pundits have this impasse eventually breaking sooner than later, that would entail both camps actually coming to terms on a new deal. But for as long as Grimes keeps clinging on the minuscule chance of him somehow getting leverage in talks, the 76ers would find it difficult to assert the most reasonable thing, at least from their perspective.
Fortunately for them, though, it would seem like Grimes is nowhere close to gaining that edge. In fact, the argument for the 76ers to remain firm with their modulated offer may have only gotten stronger and more convincing, especially after a brutal evaluation of the young guard’s perceived market value around the league.
Quentin Grimes gets brutal assessment amid free agency talks with the 76ers
Most of the prominent restricted free agents are situated in same deadlocks as Grimes, and at this rate, all of those fronts could become linked to each other, at least from a temporality standpoint.
In that case, Grimes could very well find himself eventually getting cudgeled into accepting the lone offer that he has gotten (or will get) from the 76ers, which will not be near his reported asking price.
Recently, an anonymous league executive dished out a cold evaluation on what Grimes’ value profiles on the market.
“The way the cap (environment) is now, why would you spend $20 million on Quentin Grimes when you can get (Bucks guard) Gary Trent (Jr.) for a minimum? We shouldn't just sign young players because they're young. … You've got to believe Grimes is gonna develop into your starting backcourt with (Tyrese) Maxey."
That person appears resolute in his inference that Grimes is not someone whom the 76ers are envisioning to be the sidekick to All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey. To be fair, that is easily a prudent estimation, since Philadelphia’s brass openly sees Jared McCain and VJ Edgecombe, and not Grimes, as the pieces they would truly prefer to invest in.
Grimes, despite a breakout stint during the latter stretch of the previous campaign, is all but guaranteed to take on a more minor role next season. The 76ers probably envision the same, which is precisely why they have not been reported even once to have raised their offer for the free agent.
It is pretty clear now that figures around the league find it appropriate that the Philadelphia 76ers are slowly cooking and trusting the process when it comes to negotiating with Quentin Grimes. After all, from both an insider and outsider’s perspective, there is no reason for the franchise to go all-in on the 25-year-old with only a fiery 20 games-ish stint as the main factor.