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.
Sorry to see Brand go just because he was the only player other teams feared for his toughness. Nobody stepped up to him. This will be the biggest loss from him leaving. Maybe Moultrie can step in.— gubbers97- Howard is next. Imagine if they pull off deal for Superman somehow? Dreaming right.— connorjr
- Signing one average NBA player to replace another doesn't really help much. This team's talent level is stuck at an eighth seed in the playoffs one year, one ping-pong ball in the lottery next. They've been without cap space for too long due to average players making above average money.— b_stel
- Nick Young is not a point guard. While he is a lights out shooter he doesnt provide the kind of versitility that Lou did. While Nick is a better shooter than Lou I'm not sure if he is a better scorer even tho he is nice. Nick is a upgrade over Lou offensively regarding to what Doug likes to do on offense. And he is definately better than Jodie Meeks. Nick Young is a very smooth player for a guy who is 6 foot 6. But alot of Lou's appeal as a player is his veteran savvy. He knows how to get fouled and use his pump fake on a jumper to get to the line. Nick is a better player but Lou can handle the point position while playing shooting guard for the team. I do like the move. It would be even better if the Sixers resign Lou anyway. Having Lou and Young on the bench would be crazy. The next best move would be to trade Iggy right now. It seems like the sixers are reluctant but i believe Iggy's presence on the team keeps players with a higher ceiling from growing. If he is going to be a defensive player then let him be. But I'm tired of seeing the forced passes inbetween the double team. And the infamous jump pass. I dont hate Iggy but i'm more of a sixers fan than a Iggy supporter and he just doesnt do enough to be considered the leader of the team. Lets get what we can for him. Some young players and see if the Sixers can be Oklahoma Thunder East...— Zeru
- Iggy's jump pass may look silly, but he gets away with it, and has shined regarding ball security in the past 2 seasons (If he'd only stop the behind the back passes late in games)...Lou Williams is a better player than Nick Young, as he does initiates sets when called upon, and was true "glue" with ball security,somethingYoung fails at miserably..Lou is a creator,someone who can gain separation, and like you say draw fouls...Lou and Nick have identical shooting stats (Nick's even better than Lou from the line)...but Lou does it more with a wider arsenal, and is MUCH better in uptempo...While I'm upset Lou's no longer a Sixer, Nick young can really help, as his strength is a true "need" for the Sixers...someone who can do it off the ball, catch and shoot. — bearsfriend
- http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/sixers_120706/nba-going-philadelphia-76ers
says it all.....sixers front office flying by the seat of their pants.— scootch - I think the move will pan out as a slight upgrade as some of you have said (bear etc...) N Young fills a need and the one thing that works in our favor is at one year he must work hard and do the right thing so that he can set himself up for an even bigger payday next year. It works.
As for LW I would look for him to somehow land in Dallas as a PG replacement or possibly Houston both have a big need.— bbrady25 - Michael Eric from Temple could sign as a free-agent to play back up center. He played 4 years at Temple and missed a lot of time because of a broken knee cap, so he is another diamond in the rough. He's a well-couched big man like Lavoy Allen.— damnels
- @Bears.. I think Nick Young still has potential. Not sure if Lou is going to be anything more than a scoring shooting guard in a point guard's body off the bench. I've always liked Lou.. Always but he isnt a creator for other people he is a creator for himself. Not always a dynamic scorer but has developed some presence. I like Lou.. I really do. I'd like for the Sixers to resign him. Isnt like they are going to do any better than him at this point. And the draft is already over. If they were going to do this then they should have drafted a replacement guard in the second round. Just sign Lou to a deal and have a nice rotation. Unless they plan on bringing Evan off the bench again...— Zeru
- I understand the timing makes it look as if Nick Young is a replacement for Williams. But, won't Young really be replacing Meeks? Maybe Young gets some of William's minutes. But, doesn't he get all of Meeks'?— borntosuffer
- @Bear.. Iggy's jumpshot looks fine.. His handle looks silly. Most of the time when he looks like he is thinking about creating for himself he looks like he is about to accidently crash or draw a foul from himself. If it wasnt for pure athletism I dont understand why he has the ball in his hands so much.— Zeru
- This comment has been deleted. — Quixote II
- Whoa...Lou Williams' talent average?...you can't teach the things that Lou Williams does on the court, or else you would see the Sixers at the line religously...Wait till he's on another team...mark my words...again. — bearsfriend
- @Borntosuffer.. Every sixers fan hopes so. I dont dislike Jodie but.. if i see anything like i saw last year where the guy is playing 30 plus minutes a game.. I'm going to get someone at wells fargo to throw a shoe at Doug collins head like that mideastern guy did George Bush when he was president.— Zeru
- Yea, I always appreciated Jodie's effort. But, the big part of being a shooting guard is "shooting". Young gives Collins the guy he likes to spread the floor - his reason for starting Meeks over Turner at the beginning of last year. When Hawes was healthy at the beginning of last year, a shooter like Young really could have made the Sixer's a handful to defend.
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.
