NBA Exec Says Quentin Grimes Isn't Worth $20M When Gary Trent Jr. Has $4M Contract

One NBA executive provided some cold calculations when projecting the value of Philadelphia 76ers restricted free agent Quentin Grimes.

"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?" the exec told The Athletic's Fred Katz. "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."

Trent is making just under $3.7 million from the Bucks in 2025-26, which is less than half of Grimes' qualifying offer ($8.7 million) from Philadelphia.

Restricted free agency has occasionally been tough sledding for players who weren't indisputable stars. A general manager might be less inclined to pursue a free agent when his current team can match any offer sheet.

Grimes, along with the Chicago Bulls' Josh Giddey, Golden State Warriors' Jonathan Kuminga and Brooklyn Nets' Cam Thomas, is also suffering from a cap landscape in which GMs are even less inclined to run big payrolls. The Cleveland Cavaliers are the only team that has spent into the second apron of the luxury tax.

Katz spoke to one member of an NBA front office who made an affirmative case for Grimes.

"There are not many Swiss Army knife wings out there that score it as efficiently, defend, pass or rebound like he does," the source said. "He might not be elite at any one thing, but (he’s) very good at a lot of them."

Grimes averaged 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists in his 28 appearances with the Sixers, and he only turned 25 in May.

Under the old collective bargaining agreement, he and his representatives probably would've had no trouble getting a contract worth $20 million or more. Look at some of the deals that were handed out when the cap spiked in 2016, and that was almost a decade ago.

Now, surplus value matters more than ever, though.

From the perspective of an NBA general manager, it can be tough to justify a lavish outlay for Grimes when players as good as him or slightly worse would be collecting a much lower salary.