Quentin Grimes is glad nothing will ‘happen unexpectedly’ for him this time at the NBA trade deadline
Grimes’ expiring contract heading into Thursday’s trade deadline comes with a massive caveat — that he can veto any proposed deal. It's quite a change from a year ago at this time.
SAN FRANCISCO — On Feb. 6, 2025, Quentin Grimes finished a shootaround in Philly as a Dallas Maverick and then, while at the team hotel, became a 76er.
“Well, I’m already here,” Grimes recalled thinking back then. “I don’t have to go far at all.”
The 25-year-old guard is coming up on one year since he changed teams during a whirlwind trade deadline. In the months since then, Grimes has put up career numbers while the Sixers tanked to end last season. He went through a messy restricted free agency before signing a one-year, $8.7 million qualifying offer. And he has navigated an up-and-down 2025-26 season as a sixth man, before he can enter unrestricted free agency this summer.
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Grimes’ expiring contract heading into Thursday’s trade deadline comes with a massive caveat — that he can veto any proposed deal. When asked Monday if he envisions any scenario that he would approve a deal, Grimes responded, “Nah, I haven’t even thought about that.” But Grimes does feel some relief that he will not be caught off-guard by any move.
“It’s a little different now,” Grimes said Monday before the Sixers’ victory over the Clippers. “Because nothing’s going to happen unexpectedly on my [end].”
Another reason Grimes might not waive that no-trade clause? That would cause him to lose his “Bird” rights, which allows a team to re-sign its own players for a higher salary. So unless Grimes viewed a potential landing spot in a trade as an ideal long-term fit, he is unlikely to approve.
Grimes is averaging 13.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and one steal in 46 games. The dip in role and production from last season, when he averaged 21.9 points in 28 games with the Sixers, is understandable. When he arrived after the trade with Dallas, the Sixers put the ball in Grimes’ hands as a leading scorer while the bulk of the roster was injured and the organization transitioned to vying for a high draft pick.
After looking like an NBA Sixth Man of the Year contender early this season, Grimes hit shooting ruts for stretches of December and January. He has connected on just 25.5% of his three-point attempts in his past 14 games. Sixers coach Nick Nurse last month publicly floated the idea of putting Grimes in the starting lineup to try to jump-start his play, though that never materialized.
Now, though, Grimes is in line for more immediate opportunity after starting wing Paul George was suspended 25 games for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy.
Nurse said the Sixers need Grimes’ consistently “great effort” as a perimeter defender, an area where George was such an important tone-setter. Ditto for Grimes’ off-the-bench scoring punch. Nurse added that he wants Grimes to increase his three-point attempts beyond the 5.5 he averages on the season and certainly more than the 3.5 in his past 11 games.
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Nurse also noted Grimes’ ability to play double-digit-minute stretches, typically to join the lineups featuring the starters that close both halves.
“That’s possible if he’s in his groove a little bit,” Nurse said. “We’ve just got to help him get back to that.”
Grimes has flashed that impact during the first two games of the Sixers’ Western Conference road trip.
He scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting — including a nasty dunk — and added four assists in Monday’s victory over the Clippers. The next night at the Golden State Warriors, Grimes finished with 10 points, five rebounds, and three assists. He mixed sharp drives to the basket with step-back three-pointers. And he was a key component of the Sixers’ bench unit that built a 15-point second-quarter lead, and then helped put the game away in the final period.
“Kind of getting back into a rhythm,” Grimes said when asked about his goals before the mid-February All-Star break, “how I kind of was early in the season.”
Grimes’ first full season with the Sixers comes after both sides were unable to reach an agreement on a long-term contract in restricted free agency. The barren leaguewide market, a product of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement and its “apron” penalties, meant Grimes did not receive an offer sheet from another team that he could have used as leverage. Since signing the one-year qualifying offer in October, Grimes has switched his representation to CAA.
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Last year reminded Grimes that “things happen quick” at the trade deadline. This year, he knows he will not be caught off-guard by any potential deal while at the Sixers’ Los Angeles-area hotel heading into Thursday.
Yet even after last year’s chaotic move, Grimes is content that he wound up with the Sixers.
“I didn’t know if it worked out at the time,” he said, “but it kind of worked out in the end.”