76ers insider reveals how No. 3 pick impacts their chances of keeping Quentin Grimes, Guerschon Yabusele

The Philadelphia 76ers hit it big in the 2025 NBA Draft lottery by receiving the No. 3 pick in the upcoming draft. While it’s a relief that the Sixers will be compensated with a high pick after their awful season, it also could create some cap issues.

If the Sixers keep the pick, it is projected that said pick’s rookie contract will start at a little over $11 million in his first season. While potentially fantastic value, it could have ramifications on what happens with free agents Quentin Grimes and Guerschon Yabusele. PhillyVoice’s Adam Aaronson outlined how the Sixers could keep all them with the No. 3 pick.

“In theory, the Sixers don't have many limitations on what they can pay Grimes, whose Full Bird rights they own. But that could change if keeping Yabusele requires a contract that will create limits on what the Sixers can spend elsewhere,” Aaronson wrote. “The ideal mechanism for the Sixers to re-sign Yabusele is the taxpayer's mid-level exception. That offers a maximum of two years and $11.6 million with a salary of $5,685,000 next season.”

Aaronson explained the problems that would come if re-signing Yabusele would cost more than that.

“They would have to use the non-taxpayer's version, which can be worth up to four years and $60 million…if the Sixers use any portion of it to sign him or any other player, they would become hard-capped at the first apron. That is projected at $195 million – only $12 million more than the team's payroll before retaining Grimes or Yabusele.”

Aaronson added that if that winds up being the case, the Sixers may try to cut costs from veterans who are likely to return to the roster, like Kelly Oubre Jr. or Andre Drummond. Intel from Marc Stein and Jake Fischer reported that those two plus Eric Gordon are expected to opt in with the Sixers for the 2026 season.

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It’s not the end of the world if the Sixers lose Yabusele, and if cutting costs is necessary, trading one of the veterans could work, or trading down in the draft could work so as to reduce their first-round pick's rookie salary.

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