Collin Sexton is not the story on the floor here, but the name does belong in the picture: Quentin Grimes will not be back in a 76ers uniform. Tony Jones said on June 30 that Philadelphia is heading into free agency without the guard it had hoped to keep.
The timing is the point. The report landed at the close of the first night of free agency, and it left the 76ers facing the same task they had before the market opened — finding another guard to fill a spot that now looks open.
Quentin Grimes and Philadelphia
Grimes gave Philadelphia a full sample after arriving on a one-year deal for 2025-2026. He played 75 games and averaged 13.4 points per game, 3.6 rebounds per game and 3.3 assists per game, production that made a return a live possibility before the latest update.
That interest was real, but the budget is limited. The Sixers had interest in bringing Grimes back, yet the latest report points the other way, and that leaves the front office with a narrower path to address the backcourt without overcommitting resources early in free agency.
The Lakers and the guard market
Marc Stein said on Tuesday that the Lakers were expected to secure commitments from Grimes and Sandro Mamukelashvili while still pursuing Walker Kessler. That places Los Angeles at the front of the line for Grimes if the market holds to that expectation.
Philadelphia has already moved once this week, making Dean Wade its first free agency signing before the calendar turned to July. Wade, who went undrafted in 2019 and signed with the Cavaliers, spent seven seasons developing there and averaged 5.3 points and 4.2 rebounds, a separate addition that does not replace Grimes’ role.
Three trades, one season
Grimes’ path to this point has been busy. He was traded for the third time in under two years when he joined Philadelphia, after moving from the New York Knicks to the Detroit Pistons in 2023-2024, then from the Detroit Pistons to the Dallas Mavericks, and then from the Dallas Mavericks to the 76ers in 2024-2025.
He appeared in 28 games down the stretch of the 2024-2025 NBA season before the one-year deal that brought him back to Philadelphia for 2025-2026. Now the Sixers have to replace that production if Grimes lands elsewhere, and the clearest read from the first night of free agency is that the guard search has moved from preference to necessity.
