PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – MARCH 01: Andre Drummond #1 of the Philadelphia 76ers reacts against the Golden State Warriors during the second half of the game at the Wells Fargo Center on March 1, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
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The Philadelphia 76ers have yet to reach a resolution with restricted free agent Quentin Grimes, although recent rumblings suggest there soon may be movement on that front.
During a Bleacher Report livestream, Jake Fischer reported that Grimes might be open to taking his one-year, $8.7 million qualifying offer. He noted the Sixers have plenty of competition at Grimes’ position between Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain and No. 3 overall pick VJ Edgecombe, which might make them hold firm and not cave in contract negotiations.
However, Fischer added that “there has been buzz all summer long” about the Sixers looking to trade Andre Drummond and/or Kelly Oubre Jr., which could give them some additional financial flexibility for Grimes’ next contract. Two sources told NetsDaily that the Brooklyn Nets might be open to taking Drummond on in a salary dump.
Drummond is in the second year of the two-year, $10 million contract that he signed with the Sixers during the 2024 offseason. If they dumped his $5.0 million salary and replaced him with someone on a $2.3 million veteran-minimum contract, that would give them an extra $2.7 million in wiggle room for Grimes’ next deal.
When Cam Thomas recently picked up his one-year, $6.0 million qualifying offer with the Nets, that might have been a wake-up call to the Sixers that Grimes isn’t necessarily bluffing. If they’re worried about him picking up his qualifying offer and are looking to free up some extra money, salary-dumping Drummond might be their best path forward.
Sixers’ Financial Incentive To Salary-Dump Drummond
The Sixers currently have $185.9 million of salary on their books and have 13 players on standard contracts. That puts them $10.05 million below the NBA’s $195.9 million first apron and $21.9 million below the $207.8 million second apron. Once they re-sign Grimes, they’ll likely go soaring over the first apron. The question is whether they can stay below the second apron.
The Sixers currently aren’t hard-capped, so they could exceed the second apron if needed. However, doing so would result in a host of team-building restrictions, including the loss of their $5.7 million taxpayer mid-level exception. If they do use their taxpayer MLE at any point this season, they would become hard-capped at the second apron and could not exceed $207.8 million in salary until next summer.
The Sixers could give Grimes a contract starting at $16.2 million and still have just enough flexibility under the second apron to hand out the full taxpayer MLE. They wouldn’t be the first team to operate with that type of minimal margin under a hard cap, either. The New York Knicks ended last season only $53,349 below the second apron, while the Los Angeles Lakers weren’t far behind at $670,129.
However, the Dallas Mavericks were a cautionary tale in that regard last year. After their wheeling and dealing at the February trade deadline, they were less than $200,000 below their first-apron hard cap. When injuries began to mount for them late in the season, they weren’t able to use a hardship exception because they were too close to the apron. In fact, they couldn’t even sign Moses Brown to another 10-day contract for that reason.
If the Sixers do plan to spend their taxpayer MLE at some point this season, they might want to give themselves a bit more financial flexibility under the second apron than the Mavericks had last year. That could result in them offering Grimes a starting salary in the $15 million range, which isn’t much higher than the $14.1 million non-taxpayer MLE. If Grimes isn’t willing to settle for that, the Sixers might need to find a way to salary-dump Drummond or another contract unless they’re fine with punting on using their taxpayer MLE.
Dumping Drummond Wouldn’t Come Without Risk
If the Sixers have to choose between Grimes and Drummond, it’d be a no-brainer to prefer the former. Grimes is seven years younger than Drummond and had a major late-season breakout after arriving in Philadelphia ahead of the February trade deadline.
However, salary-dumping Drummond wouldn’t come without risk for the Sixers. Star center Joel Embiid played only 19 games last season due to ongoing issues with his balky left knee, and there’s no guarantee that he’ll be ready for the start of training camp in a few weeks.
The only centers whom the Sixers have under contract aside from Embiid and Drummond are Adem Bona and Johni Broome, a pair of recent second-round picks. Offseason signings Trendon Watford, Jabari Walker and Dominick Barlow figure to soak up some frontcourt minutes as well, but none are traditional centers by any means.
The Sixers enter the season with relatively low expectations—their preseason win total is only 42.5—but they began the 2024-25 campaign on the short list of legitimate title contenders. If Embiid and Paul George stay healthy for any stretch of time, the Sixers could move right back into that tier, particularly given the injury-ravaged state of the Eastern Conference. Teams like that typically don’t rely on a pair of big men in their early 20s to keep them afloat whenever their star center is out.
Drummond was a shell of himself last year, in part because of a toe injury. If that was the main culprit of his lackluster production rather than an age-related decline, the Sixers might want to keep him until they confirm that Embiid is healthy to start the season. Salary-dumping Drummond only to lean on Bona and Broome as their primary big men could derail their season before it ever gets off the ground.
Granted, if that’s the only way they’re able to convince Grimes not to take his qualifying offer, it might be worth the trade-off. He’s far more important to their long-term future, both in terms of on-court value and his potential trade value down the road. The Sixers might just need to fill Drummond’s open roster spot with another center on a veteran-minimum contract as an insurance policy for Embiid.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.
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