Philadelphia 76ers fans are divided on how to feel about the 2024-25 NBA season.
On the one hand, the team's performance was an abject disaster compared to preseason expectations. A team that was supposed to win 50 game instead won just 24, with Paul George looking old and ineffective and Joel Embiid unable to stay on the court.
On the other hand, the terrible season did come with a few bright spots. Rookie Jared McCain had a phenomenal start to his career (before going down to injury, of course), Olympic star Guerschon Yabusele was solid in his return to the NBA, and a midseason trade turned out to be an actual coup. The 76ers swapped Caleb Martin for up-and-down guard Quentin Grimes, and he transformed into a different player in Philadelphia.
At the time of the trade, Grimes had played 215 career games for three franchises, averaging a pedestrian 8.9 points per game on 37.6 percent shooting from 3-point range to go along with 3.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
Then he exploded with the 76ers, more than tripling his career marks in averaging 21.9 points per game, massively increasing his shot volume while maintaining his efficiency. He averaged 5.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists and looks to have taken a significant step forward in his career. Those 28 games were so dominant it raised his career scoring average to 10.4 points per game in just two months.
Best yet for Philadelphia, Grimes' explosion didn't prevent the team from losing enough games down the stretch to retain their Top-6 protected first-round pick, and in fact they leapt up to No. 3 in the 2025 NBA Draft. Now, however, the decisions loom.
The 76ers have some hard offseason decisions to make
Quentin Grimes is a free agent this summer, remarkably his first foray into free agency despite his many NBA stops. Given his breakout season, he would look to be in line for a massive payday.
Yet the 76ers are already quite expensive, with the trio of Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey all on max contracts. Paying a fourth player significant money was already going to be a painful proposition.
Now the No. 3 pick is factored in; that player will come with their own not-insignificant salary, of course, but they could also overlap in position and role. One player the 76ers have been reportedly interested in is Texas guard Tre Johnson, a confident shooter and scorer who is essentially position-locked as a shooting guard.
That is a position that Philadelphia already has locked down. Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain can both moonlight on the ball -- Maxey has essentially reinvented himself as an on-ball point guard -- but both are traditionally shooting guards, and neither is necessary a defensive maven.
Add in Tre Johnson, and now the 76ers' young core is comprised of three guards, a team-building challenge from the start. A case could be made for Philadelphia to draft a larger player with the pick instead, someone like Ace Bailey or Khaman Maluach, but with the No. 3 pick you largely want to be drafting for talent, not need.
For as good as Grimes was in his impressive 28-game Philadelphia cameo, he also has a track record of middling play. His leap is not guaranteed to stick. What's more, the upside of a top prospect is likely higher than Grimes can reach. Of the two "assets" the No. 3 pick is likely the more valuable.
If the 76ers believe that Tre Johnson is the best player on the board, they should draft him. Does that mean they shouldn't then re-sign Quentin Grimes? It's possible that they will at least sign him to a new contract so as to not lose him for nothing.
Long-term, however, it is extremely unlikely that the 76ers can pay Tyrese Maxey, pay Quentin Grimes and then have two top-tier young guards stuck behind them. If they do indeed draft Tre Johnson, then at some point -- perhaps this summer, perhaps at the Trade Deadline -- they are saying goodbye to Quentin Grimes.