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Jared McCain Injury Hands Leverage to Quentin Grimes in Contract Negotiations
By Sean Barnard
Published:
When it rains, it pours, and for the Philadelphia 76ers it’s damn near time to build an arc from the amount of precipitation that has come down in recent months. On the eve of media day, and one week from the first preseason matchup, it was announced that Jared McCain suffered a torn UCL in his thumb:
The full timeline and recovery process has not been announced yet, but the typical recovery time for this injury tends to be between 4-6 or 6-12 weeks, depending on the tear’s severity. Expect a clearer update from the organization when Daryl Morey faces the media along with the rest of the roster to kick off the season.
Perhaps the bigger story is the impact on the rest of the roster. After his rookie year was limited to just 23 games before being shut down due to a meniscus tear, McCain will at least be sidelined for the early part of the season. The biggest beneficiary of this news is restricted free agent Quentin Grimes.
This has remained the last loose end of the Sixers offseason, with Grimes remaining unsigned. There has been a notable gap between what Grimes seeks to be paid and what the Sixers have seemingly been willing to cough up. Morey has completely been content playing the long game with all leverage in favor of the organization. But for the first time the leverage has shifted slightly in favor of the 25-year-old guard.
Make no mistake, Grimes will be wearing a Philadelphia 76ers jersey once the terms of the deal get finalized. The question is for what dollar amount and for what length of time.
Grimes has until October 1st to opt into his qualifying offer of $8.7 million for a one-year deal and then become an unrestricted free agent next summer. This would be the worst-case scenario for both sides and Grimes’ camp is pushing to extend this date until October 8th to allow more time for negotiations, per the Athletic’s Tony Jones.
For Grimes, this is his first chance at a major NBA payday, and the timeline for when guys can cash out after their rookie deal if they’re off to a successful start. It’s up for interpretation just how successful the start of his career has been, but the facts still are that the Houston product averaged 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game while shooting 37.3% from beyond the three-point arc across his 28 games with the Sixers. How much of that is real, and how much of that was empty calorie statistics on a broken basketball team, is also up for discussion.
Grimes would be opting into a one-year deal to bet on himself on a roster that already has an All-Star guard in Tyrese Maxey, just used the third-overall pick on another guard in V.J. Edgecombe, and McCain would have been the runaway Rookie of the Year last season if he had not been injured. All three of these guys play similar positions and the organization has far more invested in those three compared to a guy who is already on his fourth NBA team and was added at the trade deadline of a lost season in exchange for Caleb Martin.
Taking the opt-in without a clear window into what level of opportunity he would see is a massive risk for Grimes. The injury to McCain changes this, to some extent.
For the Sixers, allowing Grimes to opt into his one-year deal would also just about shut the door on him remaining in Philadelphia long-term. They had the right to match any offer that was sent his direction this offseason due to the nature of his restricted free agency tag, but will not have this luxury next year. Grimes will surely be looking for the highest bidder and there will be more free agency money across the league that what was the case this summer. Beyond just the financials, Grimes is surely looking for somewhere to call a long-term NBA home that doesn’t already have multiple ball-dominant guards on the roster. After spending the first 2.5 full seasons of his career with the Knicks, he has suited up for the Pistons, Mavericks, and Sixers over the last two.
By opting into this contract, Grimes would also get a no-trade clause and control his destiny for the season. It feels unlikely that all four of Maxey, McCain, Edgecombe, and Grimes can play minutes together consistently and at some point there will be an odd-man out. But the Sixers would lose the ability to flip Grimes midseason without his consent in exchange for a player that fits the rest of the roster better. Tony Jones has also reported that the Sixers have floated out the concept of a one-year balloon deal to pay him above the $8.7 million in exchange for him dropping the no-trade clause.
But the stranger part of the Grimes negotiations has been the lack of updates and reports. Josh Giddy, Cam Thomas, and Jonathan Kuminga were in similar situations in restricted free agency this summer and negotiations have been quite public for each. The specifics of each are slightly different with some bad blood between Kuminga and the Warriors as well as Thomas and the Nets, but there were constant public updates with contract offers and dollar figures.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that this week is the first time the Sixers made a “formal, hard offer” for the former first-round pick:
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Gina Mizell reported that the only long-term offer the Sixers offered Grimes was for four years and worth $39 million, which comes out to roughly $9.75 million annually. Grimes’ camp reportedly wanted $20-25 million at the start of the offseason, so there is still quite a gap here.
For both sides, it has always felt the best-case scenario to work out a long-term contract. Grimes can lock in his AAV at the highest dollar figure of his career, even if another organization ends up footing the bill for it by the end. For the Sixers, they have their most talented collection of guards in quite some time and a chance to get a sample size of all four playing together before making a decision on what the proper fit and who will truly be foundational pieces. Getting Grimes on a tradable contract that could be flipped for a forward to complete this team, or him simply continuing to play like a surefire NBA starter would be great outcomes here.
But losing McCain now shifts the level of urgency for the Sixers. Opening night will take place against the Boston Celtics on October 22nd. There still is no clarity on Joel Embiid or Paul George’s outlook from the organization. Maxey will be back in full force and has stepped up as a leader of the organization, but cannot do it alone. Optimism is high surrounding Edgecombe, but expecting him to be a starting shooting guard from day one at age 20 feels ambitious. This also almost guarantees that we will see some sort of rotation involving Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon, much to the dismay of many.
Daryl Morey has played the long game plenty of times before and his success rate is pretty strong. Think back to how long he allowed the Ben Simmons holdout to take place before a proper trade materialized. Or how he stood steady as James Harden attacked his character on a global stage before eventually electing to trade the former MVP.
Side note:
This is still one of the funniest moments in NBA history –
But the Sixers simply cannot afford to have another disastrous season for anyone’s job security, with Morey included in this. The level of urgency to tie up the loose knot has now increased. If McCain is not going to be ready for opening day, Grimes better be. It also cannot be fully ignored that this is two separate ligament tears McCain has dealt with in less than a calendar year. Having more of an insurance policy behind him is a bit more important than initially expected. It is too premature to panic or throw any sort of injury prone label on the 21-year-old, but being prepared for the worst should be a necessity for the Sixers moving forward.
Expect more updates for the Sixers directly during Friday’s media day and don’t be shocked if the urgency from the team’s direction to reach a long-term deal with Grimes increases notably in the coming days.
Sean Barnard has covered the Philadelphia 76ers and general Philly Sports for over six years in a variety of roles and for multiple outlets. Currently works as a Content Writer for DraftKings Network, Sixers/NBA Insider for Philadelphia's Fox Sports the Gambler, and co-host of Sixers & Phillies Digest on Youtube. Forever Trusting the Process.