As Lou Williams opts out, what will Sixers do?
Lou Williams has opted out of the final year of his contract with the Sixers, making him an unrestricted free agent. What happens with him and the Sixers could have a snowball effect on other moves.
As Lou Williams opts out, what will Sixers do?
Bob Cooney
Lou Williams wants to be playing for the 76ers this upcoming season. President Rod Thorn and coach Doug Collins want the 6-1 guard to be back in his normal role as scoring guard off the bench.
But Williams also wants to see how much interest there is in him throughout the league and what kind of contract might be offered to him by other teams. It is the reason he has decided to opt out of his final contract year with the Sixers, a year in which he was scheduled to make $6.39 million, the final year of a five-year, $25 million deal.
The 6-1 guard has spent each of his seven seasons with the Sixers, mostly in a reserve role, starting just 38 of his 455 regular season games. He led the team in scoring this past season with 14.9 points a game (a career high), becoming the first player since Dell Curry in '93-94 with the Charlotte Hornets to be the team’s top scorer despite not starting a game. For his career Williams, 25, has averaged 11.3 points on 42.1 percent shooting.
There is little doubt the Sixers would want to keep the diminutive guard as scoring was a problem most of last season and losing the leading scorer would certainly hurt. Plus, coach Doug Collins is a big fan of having scoring punch coming off of his bench, a big advantage for his team this past season.
“We’d like to sign him, if at all possible,” said Thorn. “He wants to test the waters. To become an unrestricted free agent doesn’t happen often, maybe once or twice in a career. He wants to see what’s out there. He has said he wants to stay with us, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”
A league source said that the interest in Williams throughout the league is “significant” and that a contract to land him could be “in the Thaddeus Young range.” Before this past season Young signed a 5-year deal worth close to $43 million.
“It’s impossible to gauge (how much a team would be willing to pay) because there is are so many teams who have money and Lou certainly is a good player,” said Thorn. "The natural inclination is for teams who have money to spend some of it, of course. The last couple of years there are a lot of teams that have gotten way under the salary cap and I’m sure that Lou will get some interest from teams.”
The Williams situation is just one of many that are facing the team. Starting center Spencer Hawes is an unrestricted free agent and, as the league source said, “There are a lot of teams interested in him. Who wouldn’t be? He’s a big man who can do a lot of things and is only 24 years-old.” Several sources have said Hawes could garner anywhere from $5 to $7 million a season.
The team also needs to decide whether they will amnesty the contract of Elton Brand, who is scheduled to make $18.16 million next season. The team would pay Brand that money, but it would come off of their salary cap. Doing this seems to be a no-brainer, if the new ownership group is OK with writing that check. If they do amnesty Brand, and can’t sign Williams and/or Hawes, that would free some money, perhaps allowing the team to go after a coveted free agent (maybe Orlando’s Ryan Anderson, a restricted free agent).
They would like to keep Temple product Lavoy Allen, whose one-year rookie deal is up. Allen’s play in the playoffs probably upped his price range to about $2 million a season. The Sixers, already short on strong, big men, can ill afford to lose Allen.
Those decisions don’t even include the all important draft, which will take place on June 28. The Sixers will have picks at the 15th, 45th and 54th spot. They have stated their want being a big, athletic type, but that may hinder on whether they feel Williams is likely to return. If they feel he isn’t, do they target a scoring guard with the 15th pick (Washington’s Terrence Ross or Duke’s Austin Rivers)?
“We can make contact (with Williams) on the first (of July),” said Thorn. “We certainly would like to who know what’s going to happen out there, but at the same time you’ve got to be cognizant of your salary cap in moving forward.”
Re-signing Lou Will is a must. But if they team loses out on him I suggest they take a run on a cheaper value player like Gerald Green. The dude hasbeen humbled down in the D-league, improved his game and would be a great bench scorer for the money. No need to go after these overhyped wing players coming out in this draft. Green is more athletic than them all, is still young and has NBA experience. This would be a smart, frugal move.
— MrMiles1- Let him walk and sign a guy like Landry Fields.— beegal99
IN THIS ORDER! 1. Trade Turner for Ariza draft night, 2. draft Perry jones, 3. restructure brand, 4.sign jr smith, Lou, lavoy. . 4a. Sign Spencer to the 1 yr mle. 5. Send Thad to the summer leagues working on posting up 2's and 3's off of screen roll. And stretching out 4's on the pick and pop. And perry jones SCORING without a play being called for him. Scoring off of rebounds, steals and sprinting the floor. 6. Complete the roster. 7. Shut iguodala down for training camp, pre season, and 15 regular season games. Ariza as the perimeter defender. Starting Thad at the 3.(Olympics) a total of 3 months rest. 8. Shut brand down for 25 games (500 j's made daily) to start perry at the 4. After the NCAA tournament (a regular college season) shut perry down until the playoffs (500 j's made daily) mid march until the playoffs it's lavoy and niks time. Jrue, jr (shooter), iguodala, Brand(restructure), Hawes(mle), Lou(7-7.5), Ariza(big wing defender, CHAMPION), Thad, perry (athletic big), lavoy, Nik, Jodie. battie as 13 on the roster. All holes FILLED! AND UNDER THE CAP!— combocancer1975- Meant to add re. Hawes, that when the spirit moves him, he can indeed play some D and block shots. Obviously an inconsistent (re frustrating!) player.
Whether Vucevic (with what appears to be a similar skill set) can tap into his "inner beast" remains to be seen. So far, the signs aren't encouraging, but he's young as well.— FishFryFrank - Reflecting on Hawes ... he has the physical tools; can run and shoot well enough; not a bad passer; HOWEVER the tough, aggressive banger is missing - it shows up on occasion then fades back into passivity. In short, the guy (only 24) has the ability to be a very good, very reliable C in the NBA if he only had the HEART & WILL to bring it every night.
And yet some team is going to pay him big $ to continue doing what he's been doing.
Alas ...— FishFryFrank - A lot of moving parts for the 76er's! Best wishes making it all work...— highfive
- The Tonner's a prolific scorer and has been know to go strong to the hoop.— hunglikeaton
- iceman: LOL. The Open was hard to watch, admittedly, although the suspense was palpable; felt sorry for local guy, Furyk, who both Bear and I thought would not make mistakes and beat himself, but his 42-year-old nerves got to him and that duck hook and awful bunker shot cost him the title. Perhaps the NBA could use a nerf ball in the playoffs?— chuckw
- chuckw and bearsfriend: I see that you have some U.S. Open banter going. This struck me as I was flipping back and forth between golf and the Heat-Thunder: what if the NBA decided to shrink the basket for the finals? Essentially, that's what the USGA does when it makes its best golfers play on impossible courses. Give me the Masters any day of the week.— iceman
- We will Amnesty Brand. We won't resign Hawes,Battie,and Meeks. We can keep Lou for 7.5. Move up to draft Moultrie or Leonard. They won't be available at 15. They can pick and roll and score or grab the offensive rebound.
We'll have a young nucleus of bigs with Nik,Lavoy and the draft choice. Thad and Lou will give us firepower off the bench again. Thad can start in some situations if one of the young fours falter. Get a reasonably priced free agent three point shooter. Save the cash for free agency next year if we can't get the right big this year. We might not make the playoffs next year. But,OKC was patient.— philsix6 - Trade Iggy and draft Drummond— Ace-Philadelphia
- agreed, Iggy needs to go, 15 mil is way too much to spend on a perimeter defender — CBent1
- I want Perry Jones III. Could be a Kevin Durant type player if he works on his gsme. If Lou wants a big deal let him walk. And under no circumstances sign Kris Kardashian. He made 9M last yr...what's he gonna ask for after his most productive season. If we're gonna overpay a player make it Hibbert. PJ3 @15...if he's still there.— XmarksTheReturn
- It is far more important that we sign Lavoy over Lou and Hawes. Lou is good but not worth 8 mil or so a year, at least not on this team. Hawes is a gangly, awkward center that will have some decent games but will never be a good big man consistently. Lavoy Allen is a good shooter, good rebounder, and good defender who has WAY more upside than the other two, is and will be more consistent, and will require much less to re-sign. The players we need to make sure are back next year are Lavoy, Nic, Thad, Turner, and Jrue. If anyone else wants too much, let them walk.— CBent1
- Boy aren't we lucky that Papoose, the only guy who knows sports came on today to enlighten us?
Can't hate on LouWill if he leaves for more money, he's earned that right. This is a good year to be a free agent, a lot of teams with money but not a lot of high end free agents.— OG - A "coveted" free agent like Ryan "stand still shooter" Anderson and cutting Brand, plus letting Williams and/or Hawes walk? You have got to be kidding me. Who would command all of the double teams that are required for a stiff like Anderson to get open? We gonna bring in Dwight Howard too? Doubtful.
Let's go ahead and do that. Let's bring in a "coveted" free agent like Anderson! That way, next year, we can talk about "rebuilding" and who we're gonna pick in the lottery, and how the Sixers could get out of that BAD CONTRACT that they get Ryan Anderson!!— DeanoP44 - You guys don't know sports you can't pay a bench player 7or8 million a year we already paying Thad Young that much which means..... Bye Bye Lou Williams— PAPOOSE
- Lou has his value, but signing him would be at the expense of Jrue and/or Turner. Signing Lou to 5 year contract for $7-8M per means you have to play him, which means you probably would have to trade Jrue or Turner. The team has to decide if that's the direction they want to go.— Chris74
- Bear: a brutal U.S. Open and I agree that Furyk will be tough, but don't discount Ernie Els; CBS is sick over the lame performance yesterday and today by Woods who clearly lost his cool and his swing and with it the ratings.
You know I am a big fan of LouWill, but that contract to Thad Young makes signing both of them tough.
At least the Phillies are playing well!! The injuries are taking a serious toll and you have to wonder whether Lee and Hamels are healthy. Watching Halladay break down makes me appreciate Nolan Ryan even more as he pitched effectively into his 40s. I have to imagine that Ryne Sandberg, if he wants the job, will be coming down I-95 soon.— chuckw - jellin:How about that Brandon Moss!..So glad Rube took a flyer on Bowker last September instead of promoting last year's MVP at LV....Who knows, if Moss could've gotten some at bats, and produced, maybe Cholly wouldn't have overused a gimpy RH down the stretch in September trying to get to 100 wins....Watching Moss crank 6 HRs in his first 30 ABs for the A's (after tearing it up at AAA Sacramento with Michael Taylor) makes me wonder how a Moss/Mayberry platoon would have looked?...— bearsfriend
- Moss and Taylor were certainly tearing it up in AAA, but in Taylor's case, that seems to be the highest level he can hit at. Moss? Good story, probably a stick figure would have been better than Bowker, but chalk it up another black mark on RAJ's part. Who knows, maybe he becomes a 'Jayson Werth' and finally gets it at age 28. — ESFjellin
- chuck:I'm watching, but the front nine is simply too hard for the field....Manheim's Jim Furyk, who attended West Chester, will not make mistakes down the stretch...He will win his 2cnd U.S Open....Regarding Lou Williams...if he leaves, he leaves...But fans should understand that he's an asset, not a detriment.— bearsfriend
- I liken him to Aaron Rowand: A fan favorite who really emphasizes what this city is about in that he is a hard worker, won't complain about his role, etc.. But if some team is going to overpay for his services, then adios...its been fun. Seems to me like he is a shooting guard in a point guards body. If he would accept 6 million a year, then sure take a flier on him, but he wants to be a starter somewhere.— ESFjellin
- yeah i love lou but i just dont think they can afford to pay him as much as he wants. even though he was a nonfactor in the playoffs, hes still probably the most consistent shooter on the team. jrue holiday is getting there but still not at the level of lou. so, they will need to find a good way to replace him, et is not an SG. bring in eric gordon please. anderson could also be very helpful, the sixers need scorers— HDemetriou
- bear: what happened to your being glued to the Open? Bottom line for the Sixers is the bottom line: they do not see LouWill as a starter and they cannot afford to have two guys (Thad Young and LouWill) coming off the bench earning as much as $16-18 million per year over the next three or four seasons. Not sure about the rest of the teams in the NBA, but I doubt there are any other teams paying that much to two subs! My sense is Williams wants a Thad-like contract and would probably like to start, if not here than elsewhere. He will never be a starter under Doug Collins, although I am not sure he will be a starter elsewhere either and you know I like LouWill.— chuckw
- mjc:then what's most important?...points?...sounds like Lou Will wins that one over Eturnover as well.— bearsfriend
- If Lou leaves they have a big hole to fill. He gave them excellent depth, a good scoring punch, and guts to take the last shot. Some guys run from the ball in the last 10 seconds. He's not perfect but he brings a lot to the team concept Collins has built.— GA in Blue Bell
- Guys Lou Williams is a scorer and you always need players who can score above all else, especially this Sixers team. There are many players who shy away from the clutch scoring copportunities and he is not one of them....oh and he is a Sixers draft choice so he belongs in Philly. I am with Bearsfriend on this one totally. If you let him go, you'll see that it takes too long to find someone to groom to do what he does...so don't take it for granted even though his defense is adequate at best.— BCRock
- Plus minus is the most useless state in basketball. And LW is a great teammate for 4-5 million a year. 7-8 million a year, no way. Need a bigger guy who can create his own shot and distribute (Turner if he could learn to shoot from the outside) plus a rebounding big. LW is neither of those unfortunately.— mjc1
- Zeru:I don't care about 39 games for a zero of a coach...Lou never started one game under DC, while players like Kapono,Meeks,Turner,Nocioni are stinkin the joint out.Please...Give him an athletic big who can roll to the basket from the high post...or a big who aggressively tries to set a pick...rather than just release early to receive a pass for a pick and pop....Funny thing about PERs and +/- stats...no one ever uses them, until it favors THEIR argument...People have opinions, but when statements like "Lou scores and does nothing else"...well, that's just not true.— bearsfriend
- Ryan Anderson a coveted FA? Oh, and if we have Lou we don't need a shooter? Hello? Oh, just forget it. This column is about as brain dead as the guy writing it.— alwaysphil1
- Bearsfriend.. You should change your name to Lou's friend.. Everybody would still know who you are. As much as I like Lou as a person and how cool I think he is. He is not the best option at point guard for us. Neither he is the best option at shooting guard. He is great at what he does best. We got to see Lou in a starting role before. Remember Eddie Jordan? Him at point the entire season made drafting Evan Turner a nessessity. He's points in bunches and I like him. A great piece to have because not many teams have this kind of guy to make a bench effective. But the whole he should start over Holiday and he is better than Turner.. Lets pump the breaks. Forget about John Holliger's ratings or other guys that score points when he is on the floor. The focus is on sustainability and Lou is a cog. Maybe on a Western conference team he can be Monte Ellis. Maybe on golden state he can be a 25 point per game scorer. But here in the Eastern Conference he is a shooting guard in a point guards body who needs the ball in his hands. Who can create off the dribble FOR HIMSELF and start his OWN offense. As a playmaker he holds the ball and is indecisive unless he is about to try and score.. He is a great guy but you gotta let it go man. I hope we resign him but he definately isnt the player you see him as.— Zeru
- Perhaps you forget, while Lou was playing pg, he played great but ended up getting injured, allowing a rookie named Drew Holiday to get a chance to start. Although he didn't play as well as Lou, it was obvious this kid was our future, and it only made sense to continue to play Drew. — BeFrank
- Sorry, Jrue. — BeFrank
- Would luv too see him with the Knicks.— Lb 54 wide 9
- While at first I wanted Lou back as long as the price was reasonable I'm beginning to change my mind. The guys been a great BENCH player for 7 yrs and through 4 coaches. I hope he gets his BIG payday so he can go keep the bench warm behind someone elses "lesser talent".— curtislow
- Your extreme overreaction to my plaing behind a lesser talent post makes me wonder if you're not one of the original over the top Turnerites with a new screen name.
I said LouWill was a good soldier playing behing a lesser talent I was referring to Jodie Meeks who he played behind the vast majority of the season. No one was talking about your precious Evan Turner. Relax before you bust a blood vessel - Funny, I only see a post by bearsfriend that says that. — blah
- sorry cell phone issues...I meant to say overreaction to my post saying LouWill was playing behind a lesser talent,,,
- I would still draft a big man.— combocancer1975
- Whats the big deal? why are we acting like the guy is a superstar— kenny.328.usa
- Well said, let him go. — mfecani
- If everyone walks, we'll sure have a lot of holes to fill.— Melvin Finkelstein
- I hope the Sixers don't re-sign Lou. He is the most frustrating player, shoots too much and doesn't do anything else.— EricGraf
- Yea, leading the team in scoring, leading the team in PER,persistently getting to the FT, and having a stellar assist to turnover ratio(3 to 1)....while not b****ing and moaning over playing behind lesser players...that's a horrible guy to have around. — bearsfriend
- Williams "can't guard anybody," as Andre Iguodala told a Sports Illustrated reporter this year. He gambles for steals far too frequently, leaving his teammates on an island and out of position defensively.
Unless he suddenly turns over a new leaf of efficiency, his shortcomings can't keep outweighing the positives that he brings to the Sixers offense.
Oh and she shoots WAY TO MUCH. What else does he do besides scoring? Any player can score in this league if they shoot enough.— EricGraf - just get me illyasova and find a way to draft Moultrie and Ross and Im happy! If you can make a move to get drummond or leonard, GREAT! if not, i want rosas and moultrie!!!! get it done!— johnGiam
- Yeah, I'm hoping for the same thing. If Sixers amnesty Brand, they should sign Ersan Illyasova. They should also try and sign sg- Courtney Lee. Afterward, they should trade Iguodala for a big preferably Gasol or Al Jefferson. Then in the draft, trade up to the 10th spot and draft either sg-Jeremy Lamb out of UConn or Terrence Ross out of UW, and in the 2nd round draft pg-Scott Machado out of Iona. Projected lineup: Holiday/Machado, Lee/Ross, Turner/Young, Illyasova/Allen, and Jefferson/Vucevic. Good luck Thorn/DC/Harris/Aron! — uscwee
- Drives me nuts that the period for free agency is AFTER the draft not before.— chuckw
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.
