Apr 13, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Quentin Grimes (5) controls the ball against the Chicago Bulls in the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
The Sixers head into free agency in a position much different than the one they were in a year ago.
Not only do they have far less certainty in the health of two of their most important players, but they have far less money to spend and fewer roster spots left to fill.
Here's everything you need to know about the moves they can make this offseason.
Philadelphia owns his full Bird rights, and Grimes is a restricted free agent. They've had control over his future since the second the NBA approved the trade that sent him to Philadelphia at last season's deadline. Any hesitancy to keep him around would lie in 1) a rival team offering him a deal that far-exceeds Philadelphia's valuation of Grimes and/or 2) ownership's willingness to increase the team's tax bill.
According to Tony Jones of The Athletic, Grimes is in search of a deal that lands him at least $25 million per year.
That's simple business. His camp is setting an asking price so that bidders have an idea of where to begin negotiations. That does not mean Grimes will ultimately get every dollar he wants in the end.
But given what he showed after the trade to the Sixers, his youth, the bankable skill in the shooting and the point-of-attack defense, there's every reason to think Philadelphia would rather take advantage of how incentivized they are to keep Grimes than lose him to someone else.
There are very few teams that both make sense as Grimes suitors and have the spending power to make competitive runs at him. The Brooklyn Nets were long thought to be a potential threat to Philadelphia. Perhaps they still are. The Detroit Pistons might enter the picture with free-agent priority Malik Beasley under investigation for allegations of gambling.
The Grimes deal will influence the team's next priority, though.
(Before we get started, it should be noted that these dollar amounts include Justin Edwards' new extension based on the estimated salary, not a confirmed dollar figure. They also do not factor in Johni Broome's second-round pick exception because there is no estimated dollar figure on that yet and there is no cap hold for an unsigned second-round pick until he puts pen to paper. They are ballpark estimates.)
The Sixers will enter the free agency period roughly $13,612,148 below the first apron and $25,491,048 below the second apron. As an over-the-cap team, they will have access to the non-taxpayer mid-level ($14,105,000), taxpayer mid-level ($5,685,000), bi-annual ($5,135,000) and veteran minimum exceptions.
But they have to choose a path.
If they choose to use the non-taxpayer mid-level and/or bi-annual exceptions, they will be hard-capped at the first apron. They wouldn't be able to exceed that payroll threshold under any circumstance during the league year.
If they use the taxpayer mid-level exception, they will be hard-capped at the second apron. The same restriction, but for the second apron, applies.
The point is, they have the freedom to choose whether they want to hard-cap their payroll at all and how much flexibility they want to give themselves (first threshold or second threshold) if they do.
In terms of order of operations, they should want to have a pretty clear understanding of Grimes' contract before they commence negotiations with Yabusele.
Unless Yabusele decides that he loves his current situation so much that he's willing to take a pay-cut to fit exactly into the team's flexibility, the market will determine his price.
If someone offers him more than the full non-taxpayer mid-level, the Sixers are going to be very limited in what they can do to keep him. If his market is exactly the non-taxpayer mid-level, it becomes a question of whether the Sixers want to hard-cap themselves at the first apron. If his market is below the non-taxpayer mid-level, there is some wiggle room to keep both free agents and field a complete roster.
Additionally, the Sixers could salary-dump Kelly Oubre Jr., Andre Drummond or both to create some more space below the aprons. If they trade them together (aggregated), Philadelphia is hard-capped at the second apron. If they trade them both but in separate deals, there is no additional restriction created. The same applies if they only trade one of them.
The wild card in all of this is, of course, Grimes. If he has a competitive market and the price reaches or exceeds $25 million annually, the Sixers will almost certainly have to let Yabusele walk in order to keep the younger guard. Hell, there very well could be a price point below $25 million that would make the Sixers choose one of Grimes and Yabusele.
If they felt strong about their stance in negotiations, the Sixers could also simply walk away from Grimes. That scenario wouldn't change the maximum they can offer Yabusele. That would still be the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. But walking away from Grimes would change how close Philadelphia lives to the luxury tax line in the new league year. As things currently stand, the Sixers are approximately $5,562,348 below the tax line.
I will say, given how restrictive life is when you're hard-capped at the first apron, a team like the Sixers may feel less inclined to use the non-taxpayer mid-level and bi-annual exceptions. They could very well argue that they have too many unknowns to take away their own flexibility for the entirety of the league year.
If they value flexibility that highly, it becomes increasingly difficult to see a path to retaining Yabusele in a competitive free-agent market.
The Sixers will probably want to keep a roster spot open as they head into the season, so it wouldn't be surprising if they only signed one or two players to veteran minimums. If that holds true, it's not difficult to see where things may be headed.
VJ Edgecombe is wearing No. 77, not his usual No. 7. Kyle Lowry, a free agent, last wore No. 7. Why would Edgecombe so readily move off his typical number if Lowry weren't likely returning?
As for the other veteran, it doesn't feel coincidental that Eric Gordon and the Sixers are already rumored to have mutual interest in re-uniting after the sharpshooter opted out of his contract on Sunday evening. Derek Bodner said it best:
Reminder: because the NBA prorates down the cap hit for one-year minimum contracts, Gordon would count ~$1.1 million less against the cap (but still get the same money) if he ops out and signs a new one-year deal than he would have if he opted into his 2025-26 salary. https://t.co/THyARq0MH6
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) June 29, 2025
Barring trades, it can't possibly be that eventful of a transaction period for the Sixers. Still, it feels like Christmas Eve for NBA nerds.
