Quentin Grimes, 76ers Reportedly Had $16M AAV Gap Between Contract Offer, Asking Price

The Philadelphia 76ers are currently in Abu Dhabi for the preseason, about 6,900 miles away from their home city. And that's still closer than the team and Quentin Grimes came in long-term extension negotations before the player accepted his $8.7 million qualifying offer.

According to NBA reporter Jake Fischer, Grimes' camp was seeking an AAV of around $25 million, while "Philadelphia's highest offer on a one-year pact, sources say, topped out at $9 million."

He added that "The sides were so far apart, sources say, that Philadelphia saw little need all summer to make an offer of any kind to Grimes until the week before training camps opened."

That's a $16 million difference in AAV, the sort of gulf that simply isn't going to be breached. Gimes was never going to get a deal worth $25 million a year, and probably not anything close to it, but it was a bit surprising that Philly didn't at least sweeten the pot on a one-year balloon offer.

As Fischer wrote, "There was a fairly widespread belief that Philly would eventually make a one-year pitch sufficiently lucrative (in the, say, $15 million range) that would have convinced Grimes, like Kuminga, to surrender his right to block any trade this season that comes with the qualifier. But I'm told the Sixers never came close to that range."

Grimes was excellent for an injured Sixers team last season after being a midseason trade acquisition, averaging 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists across 28 games. Given that most of Philly's top offensive options were out of commission by that point, however—and that Grimes' career scoring average sits at 10.4 points per game—it's understandable why the Sixers weren't going near a $25 million AAV.

But Grimes is still an extremely important role player for the Sixers and should have an important role going forward. Keeping him beyond the 2025-26 season would have made sense for the Sixers, and that's now in question. Because Grimes signed his qualifying offer he also has a full no-trade clause, limiting Philly's options in potential trade talks.

So all in all, it was a worst-case solution for both sides. Given how far apart they were in negotiations, however, it was apparently inevitable.