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.
Overpaid if he doesn't resign.— Ssteve115- This sounds way too good to be true. If it does happen, then I will be a born-again Sixers fan. Igoudala should have been traded two years ago for some used basketball shoes. For a player whose contract is ridiculous (lol), the dude has absolutely no offensive game whatsoever, and for being a Sixers' co-captain, has always choked and failed to lead his team over the second-round hump during the playoffs. Now, Bynum's o-game may not be that much better, but hey, he's worth the ridiculous contract that he's getting because of his size and rebounding ability.— FeiHoongWong
- This team is now A) tougher in the paint and B) can make outside shots. Let's ball
- It is all on Turner now. He needs to produce. Loved Moe Harkless and think he could be a player, but you don't get opportunities like this often. If you lose him then this will be a disaster.— Mattb
- Iggy was signed for 2 more years, right? So if Bynum walks after this year you basically get that cap room a year early.— hillbillybirdsfan
- I'm shocked....all the doubt, all the questions...ANSWERED...bye bye Iggy, hello hope....I'm giddy...we now have 3 guards (J Rich, N. Young, D Wirhgt) who are legit 3 pt threats and we have the big (Bynum) to draw the double to give it to them....we got a ton of size, a coach with a clue , and some nice depth. Its really hard to believe...Thad will actually get to start at his natural 3 (or ET at 3, Thad on bench and start J Rich)..ton of options. Making Hawes a 4 aint so bad with Bynum clogging the middle.
I give the Heat the edge still, but everyone else, be on alert.— terpaholic - for the ones who think the 6ers over paid, and bynum doesnt reup with the 6ers look what comes off the books for next year. and richardson just takes nick youngs place as his salary comes off too. and who knows, if doesnt work out what can the 6ers get for bynum at the trade deadline in feb of 2013?— stl6er
If I dig in doug's ash for bad things I have to give him props for the good. I definately think we got over. Even if we gave up Harkless..— Zeru- Wow. Just want to say Thanks to Iguodala for his hard years of service. I appreciated him here and will enjoy watching him when I can see Nuggets games. Bynum and Richardson gonna be great to watch here. At least we won't have Kwame and like I've been predicting Vucevic was in DC's doghouse. Called it 100% there!— joecooler2u
- Iguodala for Bynum straight up is a good trade because Bynum has an expiring contract, but adding Vucevic and Harkless to the deal is ridiculous. Harkless is supposed to be a future star. Morgaging the 76ers future to satisfy the win-now mentality of the 76ers always impatient season ticket holders is why this team has remained consistently mediocre for more than 10 years.— Gnip Gnop
- For those who think that MoHark will be a stud or something, I'm going to predict that he'll be nothing more than a taller version of Larry Hughes (remember him ? and how a lot of fans wanted him over Paul Pierce, and we all know how that turned out).— FeiHoongWong
- So, next year's 1st rounder, this year's 1st rounder, last year's 1st rounder, and our team leader/All-Star/Olympian for an oft-injured potential one year rental?— DavezMental.Com
- andrew bynum & arnett moultrie: 6ers getting beefy down low. finally!— fillyfan
- I may be in the minority here, but to me all of the Sixers moves feel like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.— Zaknafein
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.
