With the NBA Finals coming to an end, NBA teams are now officially allowed to negotiate new contracts with players set to become free agents at the start of the new league year.
When free agency begins on June 30, players still not under contract are free to negotiate deals with any team. But until then, each team has an exclusive negotiating window with its own soon-to-be free agents.
This does not mean there will be a rush of signings. Many players understandably prefer waiting until they are allowed to have proper communications with as many teams as possible to get senses for their markets. But since the addition of this exclusive signing window in between the NBA Finals ending and 6:00 p.m. ET on June 30, there have occasionally been deals secured ahead of time.
The Sixers are now allowed to talk to five different players who ended the season in Philadelphia on expiring contracts:
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Quentin Grimes, 25, and Guerschon Yabusele, 29, are the main pieces to watch as the Sixers look to retool their roster ahead of the 2025-26 campaign. Grimes' status as a restricted free agent will severely limit his market, as the Sixers have the ability to match any offer sheet he signs with another team.
However, they only possess non-Bird rights on Yabusele, which puts a difficult cap on the amount of money they can offer him. If there are any teams willing to pay Yabusele anything close to eight figures annually, retaining him will be nearly impossible for the Sixers to pull off without losing Grimes as a result.
The other player to note here is Kyle Lowry, who stated after a difficult, injury-riddled year that he wants to play one more NBA season and do it for his hometown team. Lowry joined the Sixers on the buyout market in February of 2024 because of his ties to Philadelphia and relationship with head coach Nick Nurse. He has since become a vital mentor for Tyrese Maxey and many other younger players on the Sixers. Lowry played on a veteran's minimum contract last season and would very likely do it again if he returned.
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