It's settled! Quentin Grimes signs a $8.74 million qualifying offer with the 76ers, becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer.

As reported by Shams on October 2nd Beijing time, Quentin Grimes, the restricted free agent of the Philadelphia 76ers, has chosen to accept a one-year qualifying offer worth $8.74 million.

Wednesday local time marked the final deadline for Grimes to decide on the qualifying offer. Accepting it officially ends the three-month standoff between the 25-year-old guard and the team. He will become an unrestricted free agent in the 2026 offseason and will hold trade veto rights during the 2025-26 season.

At 25, Grimes spent the first three and a half NBA seasons with the Knicks, Pistons, and Mavericks before being traded to Philadelphia at this year’s February trade deadline in exchange for Caleb Martin.

Previously, Grimes mainly played as a "3-and-D wing." However, due to multiple key scorers on the 76ers being injured and the roster being incomplete, he took on more ball-handling and playmaking duties, posting impressive stats in the latter half of the season. As a 76ers player, he appeared in 28 games (starting 25), averaging 33.7 minutes, 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game, with shooting percentages of 46.9% from the field, 37.3% from three, and 75.2% from the free-throw line.

His strong performance at the end of this season complicated contract negotiations with Philadelphia this summer. According to Shams, largely based on Grimes' play in the latter half of the 2024-25 season, his camp initially sought a contract around $30 million per year but later lowered their demand to between $20 million and $25 million annually.

However, the 76ers, concerned about luxury tax and salary cap issues and hesitant to pay a high salary based on just two months of performance (as the team was in the lottery and missed the playoffs at that time), never approached those figures. ESPN and other outlets reported Philadelphia was willing to offer a four-year, $39 million deal or a one-year contract slightly above the qualifying offer, but both required Grimes to waive his potential trade veto rights.

Shams' latest report indicates the 76ers' one-year offer was only $100,000 more than the qualifying offer. Meanwhile, Grimes' camp countered with two proposals: a one-year, $17 million contract, or a two-year, $34 million deal with a player option in the second year—both rejected by Philadelphia.

Shams noted the 76ers still hold Grimes’ “Bird rights” and believe the team will be in a favorable position next summer—either to re-sign Grimes as an unrestricted free agent in the open market or to arrange sign-and-trade deals with other teams.

If Grimes agreed to a trade this season, his new team would only have his “non-Bird rights” after the season. Non-Bird rights allow a maximum 20% salary increase, meaning that when Grimes becomes a free agent, his new team would need salary cap space or other exceptions to offer him a starting salary above approximately $10.5 million.

ESPN reporter Max revealed that the 76ers currently have a team salary total of $194.8 million, which exceeds the luxury tax threshold of $187.9 million but remains below the first tax apron at $195.9 million.

Grimes is one of four restricted free agents who held out with their original teams until late September this year. Ultimately, he and Nets guard Cam Thomas accepted qualifying offers, while Bulls guard Josh Giddey and Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga reached multi-year deals with their teams.