If Sixers don’t secure a draft pick and Grimes walks in FA, fans should revolt

The stakes haven’t been this high since Jimmy Butler’s free agency and you know how that went. There’s at least a chance to get this one right.

If Quentin Grimes plays just amazing enough to win a game or two more, and it costs the Sixers their 2025 NBA Draft pick, and then the team doesn’t even bring him back in free agency??? Welp… that may be a wrap for this squad. I wouldn’t blame any fan who simply checked out after that.

Many New York and Dallas fans on X have been busy self-soothing by vocally dismissing this shocking Grimes explosion as mere garbage time stat-padding. But for those who have been watching on a nightly basis recently (or those who’ve read what our Greg Frank concluded upon further review of this very topic), you know better: Grimes is the truth.

Based on the Kansas (same as Joel Embiid) product’s staggeringly rapid ascension towards the NBA’s most recent top performers list, it all begs the questions: will the Sixers steer this tank the right way and next, will managing partners Josh Harris and David Blitzer be willing to shell out major cash if that’s what it takes to retain Grimes this offseason?

Our Bryan Toporek took a look earlier this March at whether or not the Sixers could afford to re-sign the soon-to-be restricted free agent this offseason. In short: they can. The 76ers possess the right to match any offer Grimes — a 6-foot-4 shooting guard with the 6-8 wingspan — may fetch on the open market.

Teams like the Brooklyn Nets and Detroit Pistons pose the biggest threat. Grimes has been a consistently stalwart defender throughout his career. And now the Woodlands, Texas native is teasing fans with signs of potential stardom — all at the ripe young age of 24 years old.

According to Yossi Gozlan of thirdapron.com, Grimes’ recent play:

“…makes Kelly Oubre very expendable…. I would guess they re-sign Grimes. They got all these other guards. Maybe Oubre opts in [to is 2025-2026 salary with Philadelphia] and [Andre] Drummond opts in, maybe you can put those salaries together [and trade for] a $20M player, or something like that.”

Toporek noted that teams like the Brooklyn Nets and Detroit Pistons could potentially even offer up to roughly $25M annually for Grimes this spring — forcing Daryl Morey and Elton Brand into some very difficult decisions — as the team’s front office will soon look to fill out a roster around an already pricy Big 3 of Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and Embiid.

But would Harris and Blitzer back up the Brinks to keep the team’s newest stud if Morey and Brand wanted to?

Like it or not, they’re going to try to compete next season. And Grimes, depending on health variables, may very well wind up even bumping one or two of that Big 3 down a peg on the 76ers’ pecking order. It’s crazy to even muse about this idea but here we are. Bizarro world with an almost Linsanity-like heater.

Now I know what some of you are thinking… knowing this team, Morey will have landed an absolute goldmine of riches by trading away Caleb Martin and a future second-round pick for a two-way dynamo; but then Grimes will play well enough to cost them a top-five first-round pick, and then ownership will get stingy and allow him to walk for nothing.

That would be oh so Sixers, wouldn’t it? That specter of agony is unfortunately a very real threat fans must prepare for.

Morey and Brand may dread the idea of having to build a contender while facing restrictive apron penalties and hard caps intended to make executing future trades nearly impossible for the highest salaried franchises.

But there’s no choice here. The tale of the tape speaks volumes. Grimes is a must-have, no matter what.

If they want to trade him down the road, fine. Just don’t lose him for nothing.

My man is averaging 34.5 points per game over the team’s last four games. And he’s still a ballhawk on defense who has now developed under three of the NBA’s best defensive minds in Tom Thibodeau, Jason Kidd and Nick Nurse. The former Knick and Mav has frankly been better than what the New York Knicks hoped Mikal Bridges (acquired by Leon Rose for five first-round picks and one first-round pick swap!) would be this season. And he’s been better than Paul George, signed for a four-year max last year.

QG was retained for Martin and a second-rounder (though the team was later forced to send a second-rounder Dallas’ way because of Martin’s injury). What a fleecing — making the Mavs’ intentionally parting with Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson, Kristaps Porzingis and Grimes in just a couple seasons one of the most nightmarish slews of squander perhaps not even Bryan Colangelo could muster.

But it could all go south for Philadelphia.

There are two extremes right now and they’re just about as far apart as you get in sports:

Door A: the Sixers lose enough games to earn a top-five NBA Draft pick (including the chance to select and/or trade future star Cooper Flagg) and also pony up to keep Grimes in his RFA

Door B: Grimes plays well, they win a few more games than Brooklyn or Toronto down the home stretch, their pick conveys to the odds-on favorite to win it all, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and then Grimes walks because they didn’t want to match his salary.

The best possible road in a world of sports devoid of sure things is simply trusting the process. Step one is finding a way to lose. Maybe even losing a tank off or four.

Perhaps Nurse can make up for his share of the blame when he allowed Embiid to continue playing in Golden State now 13 months ago. To begin, he might have to limit Grimes’ minutes substantially. The team’s refusal to do tank well (like OKC’s Sam Presti has done very well now) could cost the team dearly, as Toporek argued (very persuasively).

C’mon, everyone. Your fans have suffered enough. If you want to keep them, just lock in a top six-pick, then splurge to keep Grimes. If they can’t, well, perhaps fans will continue rooting for other teams well beyond the final 10 ballgames.