There was a sense of relief the moment the Philadelphia 76ers finally resolved their glib contract standstill with Quentin Grimes, but in reality, the team is now boxed in a lose-lose situation. They did not win this one at all.
Stuck in the corner and left with no other options, one can say that Grimes did not really come to terms with the 76ers on a new deal to return to the squad. He simply had no choice but to settle for the team’s relatively meager qualifying offer amounting to $8.7 million, especially since the deadline to do so nearly breezed through him.
In the meantime, sure, call this a victory. The team needed Grimes to return to them no matter what. Aside from it being a matter of necessity due to what happened with Jared McCain, it was also never going to be prudent to let him loose. After all, this is the player who turned in a mini-breakout when he got handed the reigns last season amidst the revolving door of injuries.
But to the trained eye, this conclusion gives the 76ers more headaches moving forward. And for sure, the front office was not thrilled with the way the bleeding stopped.
The 76ers see their Quentin Grimes plans quashed once and for all
With Grimes taking the qualifying offer, it has become even more difficult for the 76ers to re-sign him to a richer deal next season. At this point in time, the front office will already be thinking about the consequences of their largesse from last year which will greatly affect their elbow room when it comes to handing out extensions to their more desirable prospects.
That is just one part of it, though. To be frank, the 76ers probably always thought that re-signing Grimes was going to take a lot of stars aligning in their favor. The backup plan, albeit presumably so, was most likely to treat him as a trade chip for later.
Kiss that plan goodbye. Taking into account the kind of money Grimes will be making (and the fact that he will be a mere rental, if ever), the 76ers will likewise discover that trading him for a worthy prospect or rotation piece would be a risky proposition which teams would prefer to avoid entertaining at all.
If the opportunity arises for the 76ers to be able to get someone who fits the team better, their options are limited. Grimes will be far from appealing for prospective sellers, and those that will be willing to accept him are probably going to be teams that are trying to eject some unwanted contracts.
Clearly, the 76ers do not have flexibility with Quentin Grimes, which is definitely not what they envisioned when the summer began.