In a wide-ranging phone interview with PhillyVoice on Thursday evening, David Bauman, the agent for Sixers restricted free agent Quentin Grimes, claimed that Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey and the Sixers have never meaningfully engaged in any sort of talks to retain Grimes on a long-term contract, arguing that the organization is “playing with my client’s career.”
After joining the Sixers at the trade deadline and blossoming from an off-ball role player into a dynamic three-level scorer, Grimes is still unsigned as of Saturday morning. Retaining the 25-year-old guard has been the Sixers’ clear priority since free agency opened on June 30; the team declined to re-sign Guerschon Yabusele for the taxpayer’s mid-level exception because an ensuing hard cap might have jeopardized its capacity to retain Grimes. For Grimes to remain unsigned as training camp gets set to begin has stunned many after a stellar breakout in the final two months of his fourth NBA season after being traded.
Among the people surprised by what has transpired — or, perhaps, what has not transpired — is Bauman.
“This is not Quentin being unreasonable,” Bauman said. “This is the Sixers just not negotiating with us in any way, shape or form.”
Sixers Media Day came and went on Friday, and a whole lot was said. Sixteen players spoke in all, from former NBA MVP Joel Embiid to Exhibit 10 signee Emoni Bates. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse gave initial clues into what his rotations and schematic choices might be and Morey explained many of the offseason moves he did make. But what was perhaps more noteworthy than any person who spoke or any quote given to reporters in Camden, N.J., was the absence of the player expected to be the Sixers’ starting shooting guard in 2025-26.
Grimes being separated from the organization is not expected to remain the case for more than another few days because of a looming deadline. But shortly after the Sixers’ nightmarish 24-58 campaign came to a close, Morey volunteered a statement about his excitement to bring Grimes back and incorporate him within a healthier version of the Sixers. One of the Sixers’ lone organizational victories in 2024-25 was trading Caleb Martin and a 2030 second-round pick to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Grimes and their own 2025 second-rounder, which ended up being the No. 35 overall pick in June.
Bauman and Sixers sources have both described a massive gap when it comes to how much money Grimes should be earning in any hypothetical multiyear deal. And the clock is very much ticking ahead of Oct. 1, when Grimes must decide whether or not to accept the one-year qualifying offer worth $8.7 million.
That deal — which the Sixers had to issue to Grimes in order to make him a restricted free agent and have the right to match any offer sheet he signs with another team — would be considerably less rich than the kind of deal Grimes had hoped to ink in his first foray into NBA free agency. However, it would give him ultimate control: taking the qualifying offer would give Grimes the right to veto any trade for the entire 2025-26 season and the ability to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Bauman confirmed to PhillyVoice that he proposed extending the deadline for Grimes to pick up the qualifying offer to Oct. 8, giving the sides another week to find common ground, as The Athletic reported earlier this week. A Sixers source said on Friday that the team will decline that request, which it sees as one-sided.
Another point of contention: did the Sixers make a four-year, $39 million offer to Grimes on Monday? Bauman first told The Philadelphia Inquirer on Thursday afternoon that the team had presented the offer to Grimes, which the Sixers immediately refuted. At first, a semantics debate ensued about formal offers versus informal offers. A Sixers source claims the team’s numbers-centric discussions with Grimes have only revolved around potential ranges based on different contract lengths and structures. Bauman has continually affirmed to reporters that the $39 million offer was made, while the Sixers have strenuously denied it.
Sixers sources have grown increasingly adamant over the last two days: not only did the team never make that $39 million offer, but it was never broached in any capacity — formal or informal, direct or indirect. Speaking to PhillyVoice, Bauman gave a detailed account of a conversation he says took place between himself and Morey on Monday. Grimes’ agent maintains that this discussion led to those figures being introduced. In Bauman’s description, Morey told him to implement the exact qualifying offer figure of just over $8.7 million as a starting salary, go out four years with maximum annual raises of eight percent, and to then “do the math.” The math does add up to four years and about $39 million.
“There’s no other conclusion,” Bauman said, “other than they wanted him to take the qualifying offer.”
That is not how the Sixers have characterized their outlook of the situation, though they are not discussing the qualifying offer as the sort of worst-case scenario that it is largely perceived as publicly. They still assert that their preferred outcome in all of this is coming to terms with Grimes on a long-term pact, but have not expressed any hope that it is a realistic goal. Bauman places the blame for that on the team.
“The ball is in their court,” Bauman said. “The ball has been in their court all summer long, and they haven’t attempted in any way to be serious.”
One Sixers concern is that, with a cap sheet already bloated because of questionable contracts handed to Joel Embiid and Paul George last summer, a multiyear deal with Grimes aging poorly would put the team in too dangerous of a position financially. The Sixers do not seem confident that Grimes would agree to any long-term deal that they consider to be safely cost-effective.
As of Thursday, Bauman was just as pessimistic about coming to terms on a multiyear contract; as of his discussion with PhillyVoice, he was instead focused on making proposals of alternate one-year “balloon” deals.
Bauman’s balloon idea: the Sixers paying Grimes more than he would make on the qualifying offer and, in return, Grimes waiving his right to veto a trade. Grimes would recoup some value and remain on course for unrestricted free agency, while the Sixers would ensure they can move Grimes if the right trade offer presents itself. But a source said that, as of this writing, the Sixers have registered very little appetite for such a deal. Both sides of the negotiation have described another massive gap, this one in the case of how much additional money the Sixers should have to give Grimes to buy out his veto power.
“The only thing we have in front of us is the qualifying offer and a very, very, very small delta to buy out the no-trade clause from them, which we’re not going to do,” Bauman said. “Our counter is a much larger balloon number that still [keeps the Sixers] below the second apron. And we’ll see how it goes. Otherwise, Quentin is coming to terms and coming to peace with the fact that he’ll be back in Philly on a one-year deal at the qualifying offer.”
The Sixers’ justification for their lack of interest in such a contractual framework: the team insists its intent is not merely to sign Grimes to facilitate an eventual trade. They do not see a reason to pay him significantly more money than he would get on the qualifying offer for the sake of having an easier time dealing him. Right now, the Sixers seem willing to add a very small amount of money to the $8.7 million if Grimes waives his no-trade clause; Bauman confirmed he is looking for a much more substantial bump.
If Grimes is ultimately traded during the season, his upcoming salary is of the utmost importance to Bauman. A team that trades for Grimes would not inherit the Full Bird rights currently possessed by the Sixers. They would be able to offer Grimes a deal for 2026-27 starting at up to 120 percent of his salary in the 2025-26 season. Grimes’ chances of cashing in with a team that trades for him will be substantially higher if the Sixers provide him with an inflated salary. Even if Grimes approved a trade on the qualifying offer, the team inheriting non-Bird rights on him would have no ability to pay Grimes at the price point he continues to covet unless it has cap space.
The balloon idea would be a consolation prize at best for Grimes. So, then, what is the ideal outcome on that side of a negotiation which has suddenly turned tense? According to Bauman, a sign-and-trade is atop the list because it could enable Grimes to lock in long-term financial security immediately — assuming a deal came to fruition. But that does not mean it is the only option that would satisfy Grimes.
“[A sign-and-trade] would be the best. But at the same time, if the Sixers gave him the correct one-year balloon payment, I think that would show at least on a one-year basis, we’re valuing at a high level, and we think you’re going to be important for us,” Bauman said. “We may trade you, but we may not. And if we don’t, we could [sign you with Bird rights] next summer if things work out. But right now, Quentin feels a lot of disrespect coming from Daryl and the Sixers.”
The Sixers, a source said, are aware that if Grimes returns to the organization in the near future they could have work to do in terms of making him feel valued and appreciated. Talks are already ongoing between high-ranking figures within the organization about how to best go about doing that. But the Sixers fully expect Grimes to rejoin the organization somehow in the coming days.
Publicly and privately, Sixers officials have been insistent that the team views Grimes as a high-end young player with a chance to be a critical component of very good teams moving forward. “He’s done everything right,” one team official said about the current standoff, emphatically suggesting that no member of the front office, coaching staff or roster holds any ill will toward Grimes.
In Bauman’s view, the Sixers’ public comments about their desire to keep Grimes are incompatible with their approach to negotiations over the last few months.
“There’s the statements that are being made,” Bauman said, “and then there’s the reality.”
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