As Lou Williams opts out, what will Sixers do?
Lou Williams has opted out of the final year of his contract with the Sixers, making him an unrestricted free agent. What happens with him and the Sixers could have a snowball effect on other moves.
As Lou Williams opts out, what will Sixers do?
Bob Cooney
Lou Williams wants to be playing for the 76ers this upcoming season. President Rod Thorn and coach Doug Collins want the 6-1 guard to be back in his normal role as scoring guard off the bench.
But Williams also wants to see how much interest there is in him throughout the league and what kind of contract might be offered to him by other teams. It is the reason he has decided to opt out of his final contract year with the Sixers, a year in which he was scheduled to make $6.39 million, the final year of a five-year, $25 million deal.
The 6-1 guard has spent each of his seven seasons with the Sixers, mostly in a reserve role, starting just 38 of his 455 regular season games. He led the team in scoring this past season with 14.9 points a game (a career high), becoming the first player since Dell Curry in '93-94 with the Charlotte Hornets to be the team’s top scorer despite not starting a game. For his career Williams, 25, has averaged 11.3 points on 42.1 percent shooting.
There is little doubt the Sixers would want to keep the diminutive guard as scoring was a problem most of last season and losing the leading scorer would certainly hurt. Plus, coach Doug Collins is a big fan of having scoring punch coming off of his bench, a big advantage for his team this past season.
“We’d like to sign him, if at all possible,” said Thorn. “He wants to test the waters. To become an unrestricted free agent doesn’t happen often, maybe once or twice in a career. He wants to see what’s out there. He has said he wants to stay with us, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”
A league source said that the interest in Williams throughout the league is “significant” and that a contract to land him could be “in the Thaddeus Young range.” Before this past season Young signed a 5-year deal worth close to $43 million.
“It’s impossible to gauge (how much a team would be willing to pay) because there is are so many teams who have money and Lou certainly is a good player,” said Thorn. "The natural inclination is for teams who have money to spend some of it, of course. The last couple of years there are a lot of teams that have gotten way under the salary cap and I’m sure that Lou will get some interest from teams.”
The Williams situation is just one of many that are facing the team. Starting center Spencer Hawes is an unrestricted free agent and, as the league source said, “There are a lot of teams interested in him. Who wouldn’t be? He’s a big man who can do a lot of things and is only 24 years-old.” Several sources have said Hawes could garner anywhere from $5 to $7 million a season.
The team also needs to decide whether they will amnesty the contract of Elton Brand, who is scheduled to make $18.16 million next season. The team would pay Brand that money, but it would come off of their salary cap. Doing this seems to be a no-brainer, if the new ownership group is OK with writing that check. If they do amnesty Brand, and can’t sign Williams and/or Hawes, that would free some money, perhaps allowing the team to go after a coveted free agent (maybe Orlando’s Ryan Anderson, a restricted free agent).
They would like to keep Temple product Lavoy Allen, whose one-year rookie deal is up. Allen’s play in the playoffs probably upped his price range to about $2 million a season. The Sixers, already short on strong, big men, can ill afford to lose Allen.
Those decisions don’t even include the all important draft, which will take place on June 28. The Sixers will have picks at the 15th, 45th and 54th spot. They have stated their want being a big, athletic type, but that may hinder on whether they feel Williams is likely to return. If they feel he isn’t, do they target a scoring guard with the 15th pick (Washington’s Terrence Ross or Duke’s Austin Rivers)?
“We can make contact (with Williams) on the first (of July),” said Thorn. “We certainly would like to who know what’s going to happen out there, but at the same time you’ve got to be cognizant of your salary cap in moving forward.”
Bearsfriend.. You should change your name to Lou's friend.. Everybody would still know who you are. As much as I like Lou as a person and how cool I think he is. He is not the best option at point guard for us. Neither he is the best option at shooting guard. He is great at what he does best. We got to see Lou in a starting role before. Remember Eddie Jordan? Him at point the entire season made drafting Evan Turner a nessessity. He's points in bunches and I like him. A great piece to have because not many teams have this kind of guy to make a bench effective. But the whole he should start over Holiday and he is better than Turner.. Lets pump the breaks. Forget about John Holliger's ratings or other guys that score points when he is on the floor. The focus is on sustainability and Lou is a cog. Maybe on a Western conference team he can be Monte Ellis. Maybe on golden state he can be a 25 point per game scorer. But here in the Eastern Conference he is a shooting guard in a point guards body who needs the ball in his hands. Who can create off the dribble FOR HIMSELF and start his OWN offense. As a playmaker he holds the ball and is indecisive unless he is about to try and score.. He is a great guy but you gotta let it go man. I hope we resign him but he definately isnt the player you see him as.— Zeru- Perhaps you forget, while Lou was playing pg, he played great but ended up getting injured, allowing a rookie named Drew Holiday to get a chance to start. Although he didn't play as well as Lou, it was obvious this kid was our future, and it only made sense to continue to play Drew. — BeFrank
- Sorry, Jrue. — BeFrank
- Ryan Anderson a coveted FA? Oh, and if we have Lou we don't need a shooter? Hello? Oh, just forget it. This column is about as brain dead as the guy writing it.— alwaysphil1
- Zeru:I don't care about 39 games for a zero of a coach...Lou never started one game under DC, while players like Kapono,Meeks,Turner,Nocioni are stinkin the joint out.Please...Give him an athletic big who can roll to the basket from the high post...or a big who aggressively tries to set a pick...rather than just release early to receive a pass for a pick and pop....Funny thing about PERs and +/- stats...no one ever uses them, until it favors THEIR argument...People have opinions, but when statements like "Lou scores and does nothing else"...well, that's just not true.— bearsfriend
- Plus minus is the most useless state in basketball. And LW is a great teammate for 4-5 million a year. 7-8 million a year, no way. Need a bigger guy who can create his own shot and distribute (Turner if he could learn to shoot from the outside) plus a rebounding big. LW is neither of those unfortunately.— mjc1
- Guys Lou Williams is a scorer and you always need players who can score above all else, especially this Sixers team. There are many players who shy away from the clutch scoring copportunities and he is not one of them....oh and he is a Sixers draft choice so he belongs in Philly. I am with Bearsfriend on this one totally. If you let him go, you'll see that it takes too long to find someone to groom to do what he does...so don't take it for granted even though his defense is adequate at best.— BCRock
- If Lou leaves they have a big hole to fill. He gave them excellent depth, a good scoring punch, and guts to take the last shot. Some guys run from the ball in the last 10 seconds. He's not perfect but he brings a lot to the team concept Collins has built.— GA in Blue Bell
- mjc:then what's most important?...points?...sounds like Lou Will wins that one over Eturnover as well.— bearsfriend
- bear: what happened to your being glued to the Open? Bottom line for the Sixers is the bottom line: they do not see LouWill as a starter and they cannot afford to have two guys (Thad Young and LouWill) coming off the bench earning as much as $16-18 million per year over the next three or four seasons. Not sure about the rest of the teams in the NBA, but I doubt there are any other teams paying that much to two subs! My sense is Williams wants a Thad-like contract and would probably like to start, if not here than elsewhere. He will never be a starter under Doug Collins, although I am not sure he will be a starter elsewhere either and you know I like LouWill.— chuckw
- yeah i love lou but i just dont think they can afford to pay him as much as he wants. even though he was a nonfactor in the playoffs, hes still probably the most consistent shooter on the team. jrue holiday is getting there but still not at the level of lou. so, they will need to find a good way to replace him, et is not an SG. bring in eric gordon please. anderson could also be very helpful, the sixers need scorers— HDemetriou
- I liken him to Aaron Rowand: A fan favorite who really emphasizes what this city is about in that he is a hard worker, won't complain about his role, etc.. But if some team is going to overpay for his services, then adios...its been fun. Seems to me like he is a shooting guard in a point guards body. If he would accept 6 million a year, then sure take a flier on him, but he wants to be a starter somewhere.— ESFjellin
- chuck:I'm watching, but the front nine is simply too hard for the field....Manheim's Jim Furyk, who attended West Chester, will not make mistakes down the stretch...He will win his 2cnd U.S Open....Regarding Lou Williams...if he leaves, he leaves...But fans should understand that he's an asset, not a detriment.— bearsfriend
- jellin:How about that Brandon Moss!..So glad Rube took a flyer on Bowker last September instead of promoting last year's MVP at LV....Who knows, if Moss could've gotten some at bats, and produced, maybe Cholly wouldn't have overused a gimpy RH down the stretch in September trying to get to 100 wins....Watching Moss crank 6 HRs in his first 30 ABs for the A's (after tearing it up at AAA Sacramento with Michael Taylor) makes me wonder how a Moss/Mayberry platoon would have looked?...— bearsfriend
- Moss and Taylor were certainly tearing it up in AAA, but in Taylor's case, that seems to be the highest level he can hit at. Moss? Good story, probably a stick figure would have been better than Bowker, but chalk it up another black mark on RAJ's part. Who knows, maybe he becomes a 'Jayson Werth' and finally gets it at age 28. — ESFjellin
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for more than 20 years, working in the sports department for the past 15. This is his third season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he was the La Salle beat writer for six seasons. E-mail Bob at cooneyb@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.
