Source: Bynum coming to Sixers, Iguodala gone
According to a league source, the big man the Sixers have long coveted will be arriving in town via trade Friday morning.
Source: Bynum coming to Sixers, Iguodala gone
Bob Cooney
According to a league source, the big man the Sixers have long coveted will be arriving in town via trade Friday morning.
The source confirmed to the Daily News that the reported deal that will bring Los Angeles Lakers 7-0, 285-pound center Andrew Bynum to the Sixers will be announced at a press conference Friday morning.
A source with direct knowledge of the talks told ESPN.com that the Denver Nuggets will get Sixers All-Star Andre Iguodala, the Lakers will receive Dwight Howard, the 76ers will get Bynum and Orlando’s Jason Richardson, and the Magic will get Denver’s Arron Afflalo, and Al Harrington, the Sixers’ Nikola Vucevic and one protected future first-round pick from each of the other three teams.
In addition, the Magic will be getting other pieces, including the 76ers’ No. 1 draft pick, Moe Harkless, a source told ESPN.
Lakers forward Pau Gasol had been in and out of talks, sources told ESPN.
Should the deal go through, it will be quite a coup for 76ers president Rod Thorn. When asked how the team can become a possible contender for a championship, three words usually weren’t too far from coming out of his mouth: “Dominant big man.”
Coach Doug Collins has commented on how nice it would be to have that hulking force in the post.
That force appears to be on the way.
Bynum, who will turn 25 in October, entered the NBA draft after his senior year in high school at Saint Joseph’s High School in Metuchen, N.J., and was selected by the Lakers with the 10th overall pick in 2005. In his seven seasons with L.A., Bynum, who grew up in Plainsboro, N.J., averaged 11.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. Last season, his best in the league, Bynum went for 18.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and shot 55.8 percent from the floor in 35.2 minutes per game. He missed just six games, the fewest since his second year in the league. He has been dogged about his leadership and maturity issues and has been hampered by injuries throughout his career. He has missed 130 of the Lakers’ 394 regular-season games, mostly due to separate knee injuries.
Iguodala is currently a helping hand on an Olympic team that seems headed to winning the gold medal in London. This past season, Iguodala was an All-Star for the first time and earned the unending praise of Collins for his defensive prowess and overall game that produced 12.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists.
Iguodala, 28, has spent all eight of his NBA seasons with the Sixers after being taken with the ninth pick in the 2004 draft. The durable Iguodala has been struggling with nagging injuries over the past couple of seasons, with tendinitis in both knees and a recurring Achilles’ strain.
In Bynum, the Sixers will be adding a possible expiring contract. Bynum is scheduled to make close to $16.5 million this coming season. Iguodala will make $14.7 million and has a player-option deal to make $15.9 million with the Sixers the next season.
Doug has always looked at how the Celtics built their team and this is exactly what the Sixers have done. You traded Iguodala and two young players who may have upside for a legitimate star big just like the Celtics did for KG. The one difference is the Celtics still had Paul Pierce as the veteran star to play with KG, Allen and the young guard in Rondo. A lot will be riding on Evan Turner and Thaddeus Young unless they still have another deal up their sleeve. You know have your young pg for the next 10 years and hopefully your center.— Mattb- Wow, Bynum in Philadelphia. This is significant. We keep our back court and we still have one of our first round rookies. It will be interesting to see what the Sixers roster looks like after the trade. We lose 3 players, They should have sent away Kwame Brown. All in all this will make the Sixers a better team.— Horlet
- Hey chuck w and bearsfriend and others remember I said I had a feeling that the sixers would get a big man Howard or Bynum way back well my feeling has come true Yess! Okay Dougie you are now in the plus column!!— male
- Wow, the best (offensive) center in the league and outstanding perimeter shooting to go along with him. Should still be a top defensive team. we lose a little bit of perimeter D but pick up major rebounding and shot blocking.
Good luck to Andre- work on your FT form!
— incog69 - Any poster who does not like this trade is truly clueless. Kudos to the Sixers Front Office, DC, and Josh Harris et al, for turning a lacklustre offseason around.— chuckw
We waited all summer Villan but our day is finally here. It was worth the wait.— Zeru- I'm not so worried about Bynum being injury-prone. So is Kwame & Hawes but we still have Lavoy and Moultrie backing up those 3. Wonder if the 76ers are going to make any other moves. They could trade for more pieces now how the Celtics did when aquiring Ray Allen and Garnett. Lots of potential lineups (starters and bench) still. Only sure starters I see are Jrue at PG and Bynum at C. Everything else is up in the air. SG - Turner-Richardson-Nick Young, SF - Wright-Thad-Turner, PF - Lavoy-Thad-Hawes-Moultrie.— joecooler2u
- This trade makes the Sixers a top 3 team in the eastern conference.— Zeru
- Sixers are stacked— jmb53
- Bynum had a player fall into his knee which caused one of his injuries. Often injured? dude got hurt by a fluke accident on the court. He is the best center in the East just that quick with Howard going west. Go Sixers!— phillyinNJ
- The Sixers will regret giving up Vucevic and Harkless down the road for a rental. It's doubtful the team will function well as a unit with all the new pieces sufficiently to win it all in 2013. Iggy was glue that made them a very good defensive team with a strong transition game. Denver has a better chance to win it all now that Iggy will guide all those young players like he did for the sixers. The SIXERS will be much weaker in 2014 if Bynum is not extended into the future. Bynum won't be the leader Iggy is. The good news is they have a much better front court than 2012.
Turner now has the opportunity to be the face of this franchise.— fafink - Simply cannot knock the sixers for swinging for the fences here. I am excited about this move! I do see a hole in their on floor leadership that will need time to develop, so it could be an iffy start to the season but the potential is now there.— phils_tnj1
- K Brown, Hawes, Moultrie, Allen, Thad, Bynum...Wright, N young, Richardson...Holiday, Turner, Ivy... Collins is going to have some fun!— jmb53
- Two question:
Will Bynum stay healthy?
Will Bynum re-sign?— rcfoot - I think this is a good move for everybody (ONLY if Orlando can convert one of their picks into a decent player).
Lakers get a legitimate shot & getting past the Thunder. orlando gets picks & freedom from the Howard soap opera. Sixers get a center. Denver (the bit player here) gets some very needed D.— yobill626
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.
