The Philadelphia Sixers' restricted free agency standoff with Quentin Grimes extended into the start of the season, with the guard missing media day on Friday. He won't travel with the team to Abu Dhabi this weekend, either.
With the anxiety surrounding Grimes' status heightening among the fan base, Daryl Morey did little to calm those anxieties at media day. He pointed out that there isn't much he can say about the ongoing contract discussions, but he said that the two sides will "hopefully" agree to a resolution in the next few days.
ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania reported on Wednesday that the Sixers and Grimes are still far apart in their negotiations for a new deal. Tony Jones of The Athletic reported that Philadelphia presented Grimes with two options (subscription required): the qualifying offer or a "one-year balloon payment."
Jones added that the Sixers want to work out a "long-term, four-year deal" with Grimes, but that the two sides are "far apart" on what the money would look like.
Quentin Grimes' future with Sixers is still uncertain
Grimes was one of the lone bright spots for Philadelphia last season. He arrived to the Sixers after the trade deadline, where he averaged 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game to close out the season, shooting 46.9% from the field and 37.3% from three.
His surge happened during an injury-ravaged stretch for Philadelphia, but it was still impressive. Luck wasn't on the Sixers' side much at all last season, but when it came to the Grimes trade, it was.
Grimes' importance to Philadelphia dipped when the Sixers left the draft lottery with the No. 3 pick, selecting guard VJ Edgecombe. Philadelphia also drafted Jared McCain last year, who was having an exceptional rookie season before he got injured last December.
Now, with the season around the corner, Grimes' importance rose after the news that McCain suffered a UCL tear in his thumb. It made fans even more hopeful that they'd get a notification that the two sides had agreed to a deal.
It's not ideal that Grimes isn't with the team for the start of practice, and that he'll miss the start of preseason action (hopefully, not all of it).
Morey did say that Grimes is a big part of what the Sixers want to do, so while hearing that was reassuring, the sense of worry will remain until a deal is made official. It'd be nice to lock Grimes down for more than a season, too, but that doesn't seem like a strong possibility.