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.
- Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder...To me,Lou Williams was easily the most exciting player on the team, and a reason in the last 2 years of having Sixers basketball become a bigger part my sports yen...These moves will strngthen the teams ability to finance it's future moves, but the key is NOT making mistakes, and not getting in the dangerous mindset of "developing the youth" or "backcourt of the future"...The coach can coach, but the team that gets put together has to fit his style....Last, and not showing up on any stat sheet, losing EB and Lou Williams will have an effect on team personality,identity, and leadership..on the floor and the locker room...Other guys are going to have to step up.
— bearsfriend - That wasn't directed at you by the way. I agree with you that this does help financially moving forward but they wouldn't have had to do this had they not messed up Lavoy's original contract in the first place. Then we could have traded away an expiring contract or simply kept him around to mentor our young bigs. I also part ways with you when it comes to Collins. I agree that he is a good coach but the whole not playing Evan Turner for Meeks thing has rubbed me the wrong way to no end. I don't think DC develops young talent well now or at any other stop on his coaching career and that wouldn't bother me if we weren't the third youngest team (probably higher now that EB is gone) in the NBA. We must get the most out of our young players more so than other teams with more vets and to be honest with you I don't know if I can truly say that is happening here. They still have time for trades and signing people so I will wait and see what their master plan is but I am not confident in it so far. As far as Lou Will goes, I would rather have him than Nick Young but as you know I am not a Lou Will fan.
- Great move by the sixers. We wanted new faces and now we have a quality guy (nick young) coming in to compliment Iggy and Jrue. We could probably still sign Brand if he wants less money??? good move FO!!— Chuckfox3000
- Nice move only if Jrue can get better with his PG skills. If Nick Young is standing open and no pass? Russ Westbrook (East) Jrue Learn this summer how to run a Team. YA DIG?.— Darryl Cofield
- Brand is a slug but they should have let his contract expire at the end of this season and then amnesty Iggy. Plenty of cap space then. This team is going nowhere quickly. They need to be in the lottery for two seasons and build around Holiday and those picks. I am tired #8 seed teams, I want championship teams!— paris4053
- I hope these moves work out; I didn't favor amnestying Brand, because at this point, with 1 year left, Brand wasn't really a liability anymore. He was also described by EVERY person who covered the team as a class act, and a necessary voice of reason in the locker room. In addition, if he ever had an issue with Collins, he kept it out of the press. He didn't tell reporters(and fans): "Whatever we learned from (Collins), he learned more from us". No, that guy is still on the team, and now he has plenty of other 6ft4 - 6ft8 wing players to share time with.— 76erfn
- As far as Lou Williams goes, good riddance to his no defense and I never seen a shot I don't like mentality— paris4053
- Will miss Brand...stand up blue collar type guy. However his production didn't match his paycheck so I understand the move. Now lets get Ryan Anderson to space the floor, and grab some rebounds.— MrX
- i see young as basically a replacement for lou. amnestying brand opens up a good amount of possibilities— HDemetriou
- Maybe Lou wanted too much money, I don't know. But Young is one of the worst defenders in the league. Maybe he will get more interested under DC? Right now though, I would have rather had Lou back.— DeanoP44
- They wanted Lou back...but not for the terms him agent pushed for...Leon Rose has many clients. He did this one wrong. At this point of the game,the negotiating edge (competing with his own team) is gone...I wouldn't be surprised to see Lou get a similar,one year deal to what he walked away from. — bearsfriend
- Hey bear -- How about John Lucas III as your "quick" off the bench?— Copper34
- He's a killer...either his coach, or the other team...no middle ground!...I believe he could be had pretty cheap...ET as a backup PG?...Zack Rosen getting a true shot if he excels in Orlando?...Currently as the roster sits, the Sixers WILL miss Lou Will's "anytime" in the lane ability(obviously more effective when he GOT the calls while getting smashed)...Bummer for me,cause I know Lou would have thrived with a Moultrie/Harkless type athlete to feed (alley oop) after constantly beating defenders off the dribble..Oh well. — bearsfriend
- Had a dream they got Myck Kabongo, out of Findlay Prep, and Texas....When they're not even in the league yet, then you know you care too much. — bearsfriend
- Can't satisfy everyone.— phillyinNJ
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.
