Could the Utah Jazz be a threat to sign Quentin Grimes?

Two years after throwing a bloated offer sheet at Paul Reed, could the Utah Jazz again be a thorn in the Sixers’ side?

The Utah Jazz’s offseason fire sale continued Monday, as they shipped John Collins to the Los Angeles Clippers in a three-team trade for Kevin Love, Kyle Anderson and a 2027 second-round pick, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania and Ohm Youngmisuk. As part of the deal, they also created a $26.6 million trade exception, which sent chills down the spines of Sixers fans who are awaiting a resolution to Quentin Grimes’ restricted free agency.

On Saturday, Kelly Iko and Tony Jones of The Athletic reported there had “been little to no movement” with Grimes and the Sixers, although “the two sides are hoping to continue communication in the coming days.” Leading into free agency, Jones reported that Grimes was “looking for a contract that averages $25 million per season,” which seemed aspirational even before cap space dried up around the league.

Granted, no one in their right mind would have imagined the Milwaukee Bucks waiving and stretching Damian Lillard to create enough cap space to sign Myles Turner to a four-year, $107 million contract this offseason. It only takes one (desperate) team to force the Sixers’ hand with Grimes, although they do have the right to match any offer sheet he signs elsewhere.

So, how worried should the Sixers be about the Jazz when it comes to Grimes? Not as much as you might think in the wake of this Collins trade.

In theory, the Jazz could use their newly created trade exception from the Collins deal to facilitate a sign-and-trade for Grimes. The Atlanta Hawks just did that with Nickeil Alexander-Walker using their Dejounte Murray trade exception, after all. However, Jones reported Tuesday the Sixers “are almost certain” they’ll retain Grimes and “splashed cold water on potential sign-and-trade scenarios.”

Had the Timberwolves not agreed to a sign-and-trade for Alexander-Walker, the Hawks could have signed him to a similar contract via their $14.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception. The Jazz could not sign Grimes to an offer sheet starting at $26.6 million using their Collins trade exception unless the Sixers agreed to a sign-and-trade beforehand. Otherwise, the Jazz would have to carve out enough cap space to sign him to that type of deal first.

By flipping Collins ($26.6 million) for Anderson ($9.2 million) and Love ($4.15 million), the Jazz did give themselves the ability to be a cap-space team this offseason. If they waive the non-guaranteed contracts of old friends KJ Martin ($8.0 million) and Jaden Springer ($2.3 million), they could create up to nearly $18.8 million of cap space. They could sign Grimes to a four-year offer sheet worth up to $80.7 million, although the Sixers still might be a real threat to match that.

If the Jazz could get Love to give up some money in a buyout, they’d be able to create slightly more cap space and offer Grimes an even larger contract. However, if they do dip below the salary cap, they would forfeit their Collins trade exception. Would signing Grimes be worth losing access to that and spending the remainder of their cap space? New Jazz president of basketball operations Austin Ainge doesn’t seem to think so.

Going that route would be extremely risky for the Jazz, too. Once they dipped below the cap, they’d lose the Collins trade exception immediately. If they signed Grimes to an offer sheet and the Sixers matched it, they’d be left with no Grimes, no Collins trade exception and $18 million burning a hole in their pockets. They’re far better off preserving that trade exception to see what opportunities arise in-season or early in the offseason next summer.

There’s also the question of whether the Jazz are even interested in players who would help them in the short term. After all, they’ve dumped Collins, Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton this offseason and received only Anderson, Love (whom they’ll likely buy out) and Jusuf Nurkic in return.

The Jazz owe their 2026 first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder (who else?) if it falls outside of the top eight. If it lands inside of the top eight, that pick obligation is extinguished entirely. In other words, the Jazz have massive incentive to be one of the league’s four worst teams this year, thus ensuring that pick cannot trade hands.

While Ainge declared in June that the Jazz would not be tanking this season, everything they’ve done since then strongly suggests otherwise. Unless you believe Ace Bailey truly is the second coming of Kevin Durant and will walk onto an NBA floor as a rookie ready to pour in 25 points per game, the Jazz figure to be one of the league’s worst teams this season. That seems to be by design, despite Ainge’s proclamations to the contrary.

Granted, the Jazz do have a recent history of tormenting the Sixers in restricted free agency. Two years ago, they threw a diabolical three-year, $23 million offer sheet at Paul Reed that the Sixers ultimately matched. The first year of the contract was fully guaranteed, but the second and third years would only become guaranteed if his team made it past the first round of the playoffs.

At the time, the Jazz were a year removed from trading away both Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert and had just missed the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Sixers had made it to the Eastern Conference Semifinals in five of the past six seasons. The joke was on the Jazz, though, as Joel Embiid tore his meniscus midway through the 2023-24 campaign, and the Sixers flamed out in the opening round of the playoffs against the New York Knicks, which meant the remainder of Reed’s contract was fully non-guaranteed.

Even if the Jazz can’t create enough cap space to offer Grimes a starting salary above $18.8 million, they could structure the contract in such a way to disincentivize the Sixers to match. For instance, they could give him a 15 percent trade kicker, a fourth-year player option and/or frontload the payment schedule. Then again, the Sixers could always decline to match that deal, and the Jazz be stuck holding the bag that they tried to poison.

Ultimately, the most likely scenario still appears to be Grimes returning to the Sixers in some capacity this season. If he and the Sixers remain miles apart in their negotiations, he could always threaten to sign his one-year, $8.7 million qualifying offer, which would allow him to become an unrestricted free agent in 2026. But given the topsy-turvy nature of his NBA career to date, he might have to think twice before going that route. After all, one ill-timed injury could send his future earning potential crashing to the ground.

The Jazz are now lurking as a wild card for any restricted free agent, and Grimes’ agent will likely try to leverage them against the Sixers. However, that may wind up being wishful thinking, as the Collins trade exception isn’t Grimes’ ticket to his desired $25 million-per-year payday unless the Sixers acquiesce.