The Philadelphia 76ers have more pressing issues at the present, so they cannot really afford to look too far ahead into the future. However, that does not prevent them from doing the required prep work to get themselves into better position in free agency, which will be very crucial for them this year given their wavering championship hopes.
Quentin Grimes will once again be a major talking point for the 76ers come offseason. After failing to secure a bag last summer, he will re-enter the free agency market in hopes of getting the second time to be the charm. Unfortunately for him, it is Philly’s brass which may now have the upper hand in eventual talks.
With Grimes immensely struggling as of late, the lucrative price tag he and his camp have set is starting to fade away into oblivion. Given the way he is playing, there is simply no way that the 76ers will find it fathomable to overpay for his services and gloss over his disappointing campaign just for the sake of avoiding losing him.
The 76ers are slowly seizing the leverage in future free agency talks with Quentin Grimes
Briefly past the midseason point, Grimes has yet to string together consecutive outings of good play and snap his brutal funk which began in December. He had his moments from time to time during that span, but his good showings almost operated like warning signs to an impending bad performance.
Last summer, the 76ers refused to bid against themselves. This might be the case once again as Grimes may not have the kind of bidding war his camp has envisioned for him that would cudgel Philly to act with more desperation and urgency to keep him in the city.
There aren’t a lot of teams projected to have practical cap space for the offseason, which means that Grimes’ best shot is to secure a pay raise from the 76ers. But again, the team has to feel incentivized about doing so, les the front office will remain controlled and undeterred by any war of attrition he might wage, similar to the one that transpired just months ago.
For Grimes, the solution is easy — play well moving forward. As such, he still has control over his destiny. The 76ers would definitely want to keep him on the roster, but only if his demand is commensurate to his level of play. Otherwise, the front office will have all the leverage in the world to remain conservative and keep him checked.