LOS ANGELES — The Philadelphia 76ers are dealing with the aftermath of the Paul George suspension as that trickles down to everybody on the roster. The Sixers will need guys like Jared McCain, Kelly Oubre Jr., Trendon Watford, and Quentin Grimes to all step up in place of what the 9-time All-Star was able to do.
Grimes, especially, will have more opportunity. Acquired at the 2025 deadline, and back on the qualifying offer after a long summer of negotiations, the 5-year guard out of Houston is ready to step in and produce in the midst of the suspension to George.
“More opportunity for everybody out there,” Grimes said at shootaround on Monday morning in Los Angeles. “Just going out there and being more aggressive and in attack mode whether that’s coming with shots, defense. PG was a really big piece for us…everybody just gotta kinda have a next man up mentality and try to fill those holes when he’s out.”
Another factor Grimes and the Sixers have to deal with is the upcoming trade deadline on Thursday. The Sixers are a team that’s big on financial flexibility for the future and Grimes’ $8.7 million deal could be moved to help Philadelphia get below the luxury tax.
“Not really,” Grimes said when asked if he’s thinking about the deadline. “Just going in taking it day by day, game by game, not worrying about that kind of stuff.”
With that being said, this isn’t like when the Sixers acquired Grimes from the Dallas Mavericks at the deadline in 2025. That was an unexpected move after the Mavs had just traded Luka Doncic. In this instance, Grimes is in a much different situation.
“It’s a little bit different because nothing’s gonna happen unexpectedly on my terms and stuff like that,” Grimes added. “So, take it day by day and just not worry about stuff you can’t control, things like that.”
Another factor for Grimes is he has a no-trade clause in his deal due to the qualifying offer he signed in the offseason. One has to wonder if he thought about maybe waiving that no-trade if the right deal and right team came across.
“Nah, I haven’t really thought about that,” he said. “Just taking it game by game and focus on improving my game every day. I let people handle that, but nah, I haven’t even thought of that.”
The Sixers will look to keep things moving in the right direction in the midst of their current 5-game West Coast road trip.
