June 30, 2026
Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice
Could Quentin Grimes be headed back to the Western Conference?
Sixers guard Quentin Grimes is "emerging as another top target" for the Los Angeles Lakers as free agency approaches in the wake of LeBron James informing the team he will play elsewhere, according to reports from Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal and Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line.
Grimes, 26, is one of the Sixers' two primary free agents, and new Sixers President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey said earlier this month that the team is eager to retain both Grimes and Kelly Oubre Jr., the veteran swingman also entering the market as an unrestricted free agent.
The Lakers are now expected to utilize their cap space, which is in excess of $50 million, plus the room mid-level exception worth up to three years and $29.5 million. Grimes, of course, spent the first half of the 2024-25 season playing with Los Angeles cornerstone Luka Dončić; in the span of just a few days Dončić was shockingly traded to the Lakers and Grimes was dealt to the Sixers.
Given his reputation as a strong three-point shooter and trustworthy, versatile perimeter defender, it is no surprise to see Grimes connected to a team like the Lakers which will now look to build an ideal supporting cast for Dončić and co-star Austin Reaves.
NBA teams are allowed to come to terms on deals with external free agents beginning at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. For the Sixers, all early eyes will be on Grimes and Oubre, with the outcomes of their free agencies determining how much spending power the Sixers will have on other teams' free agents.
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