Sixers reportedly sign Nick Young to one-year contract and are going to amnesty Elton Brand.
It appears the days of Lou Williams and Elton Brand wearing Sixers uniforms are done. And Nick Young is apparently on his way.
Sixers reportedly sign Nick Young to one-year contract and are going to amnesty Elton Brand.
Bob Cooney
The 76ers have reportedly signed shooting guard Nick Young to a one-year contract for close to $6 million and are ready to use their amnesty clause on Elton Brand, reports say.
The signing of Young, a 6-6 shooting guard, certainly seems to indicate that Lou Williams will not be back with the team. Williams opted out of the last year of his contract with the team, worth about the same amount of Young's reported contract.
Williams seems to have confirmed that idea today when he tweeted the following:
Philly, I appreciate you all. Unfortunately I will not be coming back, as an organization they decided to move in a different direction.
— Lou Williams (@TeamLou23) July 6, 2012
The 27 year-old young was a first round draft pick (16th overall) of the Washington Wizards in 2007. In 62 games last season, 40 with the Wizards and 22 with the Clippers, Young shot 40.3 percent from the floor, including 103-for-282 (36.5 percent) from three-point range. He averaged 14.2 points, slightly over his career average of 11.4 points. He is a very good free throw shooter at 83 percent for his career, but his main attribute is his outside shooting.
By using the amnesty clause on Brand, the Sixers will probably use that money ($18.2 million) on finding a veteran big man who may be able to start at the power forward position and a backup point guard. Right now Jrue Holiday is the only real point guard on the roster, though Evan Turner and Andre Iguodala could handle the ball when necessary. A true backup point guard would allow the team to not only use him when Holiday is out of the game, but move Holiday off the ball at times also.
Williams, 25, spent all of his 7 NBA seasons with the Sixers after being taken with the 45th overall pick in 2005 out of South Gwinnett High School. He led the team in scoring this past season with 14.9 points a game despite not starting a single game. For his career he has averaged 11.3 points and 3 assists.
Brand, the top overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in 1999, will turn 34 this upcoming season. He averaged a career-low 11 points this past season but was able to grab 7.2 rebounds and block 1.6 shots in 29 minutes of play.
Today's reported moves appear to be the beginning of more. Coach Doug Collins and his assistants are down in Orlando preparing for next week's summer league. President Rod Thorn is still in Philadelphia, though he will join Collins and company in Orlando on Monday.
More to come.
- Just terrible representation, and now the guy,regardless of how many suitors he has (very few reports, however interest resurfaces after others sign), there is no longer the "competition element" in negotiations...Lou's value to the Sixers goes way past scorer off the bench,IMO, because he also ran point securely, and toatlly bought in to DC's concepts...I can onlyu wonder how much Iggy's SI comments may have hurt his bargaining power...Shame.
— bearsfriend - Buying in doesn't mean executing. He is okay at the PG but needs the ball a lot to score. He is a quintessential 6th man who comes in with the 2nd team as the primary scorer. It is a very replaceable skill set. The Sixers already covered it without getting mixed up in a multi year deal and not having a 2 guard in a PG body. I don't think Iggy's comments meant squat. GM's are smarter than buying into a throw away line in a magazine article. They have watched all of the games as scouts, not read SI to figure out Lou Williams. The fact is he opted out of a contract that was def. a fair deal. I never understood why he thought he could get more than he was due next year from the Sixers. In fact, the Sixers just set the market with a very similar player who they got on a 1 year deal at a million less than Williams was due. Wouldn't be surprised if he gets paid less than he was due since teams will want to pay him less if he wants a multi-year deal. Plus they can point at this deal and say the market is 6 million. — UncleStosh
- I like the signing. Nick Young couldn't miss when he played against the Sixers. Lou W wanted to come back to the Sixers, but wanted more money. His plan seemed like it backfired. The Sixers could use a backup PG, I also would suggest Arron Brooks. Hate to see E Brand go, but he disappeared at times, especially with that salary. I would love a shot blocker/rebounder as another piece of the puzzle. Keep AI, somebody had to play D. When the Sixers have the last possesion of a close game, please keep AI off the court. We lost so many games last year, with the last shot in our possession, because the ball went into AI's hands. Let the hot hand take the last shot.— Lina5614
- @kort99... good point— BigVilFromWestPhil
- I heard: Iggy and Vuc for DeRozen and Calderon....— edogs
- I can't help but sit back and snicker just a bit. When Iverson was in Philly, the building stayed full, there was excitement everywhere in the city, the team was always in the mix and gave hope even when outgunned, and he was ALWAYS scrapping, hustling, whirling, and scoring. Oh, and many of you whined about his shortcomings and pined for the days of choirboys and backdoor cuts. Well , here you go Philly. The Sixers don't matter. They don't even matter in Philly. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.— kevmack
- i like what they are doing so far, Young is a solid player, does not need the ball to get his points, money to play with now that Brand was amnesty......Good Luck EB, I enjoyed watching you and will continue to watch you, hopefully you left left some nuggets of leadership for Evan and Dru.— eagles2010
- Neither Young nor Lou provide much D, so this move ispretty much a wash. The fact that its just a one year deal is a good move.
The more interesting move was the signing of Kidd by the Knicks. If that team gets its act together they will definitely compete for the East.— Cameiros - A wash?...Lou's PER 20.22........Nick Young 12.93, While Nick Young does fit the mold of being a better run around screen catch and shoot, and a decent spot up three point shooter...Lou's ball skills,passing ability, and ball security far surpass Nick Young...Hopefully,Nick embraces his role just like Lou did. — bearsfriend
- if you think Lou williams can't play D what the heck does an 80 year old Kidd do on the defensive end besides cherry pick some steals? he couldn't stay in front of the PG for the Grand Rapids White hairs no less a starting NBA PG at this point. — UncleStosh
- The next shoe to drop is Kris Humphries. They really have nobody who does enough dirty work under the basket as it stands right now. He will be a 76er by the end of the weekend. Also,Iggy is about to be dealt for somebody's expiring contracts. This move combined with Nick Young's expiring contract sets them up nicely for next year's free agent class. It seems good in theory, anyway.— syddan26
- Losing Lou is going to set them back as he's the only one who could score. I don't like the move at all.— sore richard
- Adding to that, Lou was the player on the 2012 Sixers who garnered the gameplanning from opposing coaches in the forms of high post trapping, double teams on in bounds passes, and constant )cheap shot) chipping when he ran off the ball...The strength of the Sixers WAS the bench, let's hope it continues as they get deeper. — bearsfriend
- Nick Young is a mistake. He takes bad shots and plays no defence. He will be in Collin's dog house in not time. Don't understand the Brand move. If you have to pay him, might as well take his 18 and 10.— amblereagles
- 18 and 10 WHEN ??? That was 4 years ago ( for another team) ,, leting him go was sad but necssary. — phillyroni
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.
