Sixers bring back Spencer Hawes
According to a source the Sixers and Spencer Hawes have agreed to a two-year deal worth more than $13 million.
Sixers bring back Spencer Hawes
Bob Cooney
The 76ers said after their past season was over that they were looking to get bigger and more athletic in the middle, whether it be via draft, trade or free agency. They may have addressed that area a little bit when they got 6-11 Arnett Moultrie in the draft last week, but yesterday they decided to go back to a comfort zone.
According to sources the team has agreed to a two year contract with last season’s starting center, Spencer Hawes. According to the source the agreement is for two years worth slightly more than $13 million. Hawes, an unrestricted free agent, earned just more than $4 million last season.
Though he missed 29 games due to injuries last season, Hawes averaged 9.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 25 minutes per game. He also shot 48.9 percent from the floor and dealt 2.7 assists.
With the signing of Hawes, which can’t be finalized until July 11, the Sixers now have three centers in their rotation with Hawes, Moultrie and second-year 7-footer Nikola Vucevic.
With the money spent on Hawes the Sixers other priority is to bring back leading scorer Lou Williams. Williams opted out of the final year of his contract and sources throughout the league said that he will garner a contract somewhere in the same vicinity as Hawes, perhaps a little bit more. Should the Sixers do that, their options after that would be limited, unless they decide to amnesty Elton Brand and cut his $18.2 million from their salary cap.
In other words, it's going to be Williams or ______ ...?— FishFryFrank- The Sixers don't get taxed for re-signing Lou, and they have no money to work with to sign free agent a shooter (Courtney Lee)or a shot creator (OJ Mayo) unless they tag EB...Other alternatives are "sign and trade" with Hawes or Lou...Then there's always a trade, which they haven't been able to pull off to their satisfaction. — bearsfriend
- Awful, awful, awful signing, and if the plan is to bring back Lou Williams this will have been a horrendous off-season. I thought the new ownership might boost the team, but my faith is gone now. I'd rather root for the Washington Generals.— FKD215
- Really?..Who was the Sixers' best offensive player last season?...Who was one of the best bench scorers in the league last season?..Who had the greatest ability to get to the FT line and convert?..The firepower to help bring back the team?..Who had the best assist to turnover ratio?...Red Klotz is waiting for you..see ya. — bearsfriend
- When your best offensive player averages 15 and can't crack a starting lineup, that's a problem. The problem isn't Williams himself (he's an OK player) and I agree he's our best offensive option. The problem is that we had a mediocre team and then we decide to bring back the same guys who made us mediocre. Hard to see how that's improvement, especially when the rest of the division is getting better. I do like the Red Klotz reference, though. — FKD215
- Wow! What change the new ownership has brought to the table! Resigning two mediocore players!— main liner
- Well my only hope now is that a( they amnesty Brand so that thay have money to sign a shooter like Mayo or N. Young or b(that they're resigning Hawes to be part of some trade thats in the works. Kinda pulling for b.— curtislow
- What other centers re available? Not much. That is a decent contract for his skill set. Asik from Chicago will get more money per year on the average and an extra year. This is also a tradable contract next year if they decide to do that. Agree that Sixers should not bring back Williams for more than the Hawes contract. I like Courtney Lee. He is a much better defender, an above average 3pt shooter and he averaged almost 12 pts a game last year for Houston. He made $2.2 million last year. You could get him for 3 yrs $10 million easily.— earat903
- Bob Cooney worded it well when he said DC's "comfort zone"..Hawes knows the system, and if healthy(?), and more importantly, in top condition, he's a skillful big that fits the high post perimeter center...Lou should most definitely come back, but they should try to do a similar type deal...He'll attract more attention, so the Sixer may have to compete for him...Courtney Lee is now unrestricted..I doubt highly he'd take anything less than a mid level exception (5 million per)...If you want to shop,EB has to get tagged...If you sign Lou, the luxury tax from going over the 58 million cap is NOT applied. — bearsfriend
- While teams like the Lakers get better by sign and trade for Steve Nash the Sixers get Hawes.. Yikes. Same guy who wouldn't or couldn't rebound outside his area. Same guy who picked up fouls at a rapid pace. Same guy who gets out muscled by Power Forwards. Passion, Proud, whatever...— phillyinNJ
- I am still waiting for "bold" moves (resigning your own guys is not that). Courtney Lee would be an upgrade to Meeks.— 7mel11
- There has been nothing "bold" about this Sixers off-season. Bear - why are you so sure that they don't plan on amnestying Brand and using the cap space for Ersanity? That seems like the only really bold move left (outside of a big trade). This ownership group has sat on their hands -- the same as the last ownership group. At two different times, Iggy could have been swapped for K. Love. We didn't do it. His knees have deteriorated. His leadership skills are questionable. And, I can't imaging watching this team enthusiastically when it will be impossible for them to get past the 3 or 4 or 5 better teams in the East. Hawes is not the answer. Sweet Lou is not the answer (sorry Bear). Ersanity might be a difference-maker. Unless they have some intelligence that Bynum is a big fan of cheesesteaks, what will be better next off-season?— Copper34
- If the Sixers could have done an Iggy/Love deal, they would have. In other words, I think you don't know what you're talking about.
I think at this point the Sixers options are to trade Iggy for a shooter/scorer (Monta Ellis?), see if they can get Lee for the MLE, or re-sign Williams. I think they are resigned to having EB back and waiting for 2013 free agency, and hoping for one or two of Jrue, ET, Harkless becoming a star.— Chris74 - Dam I just watched a guy with a bad back and achilles injury not be able to play back to back games! By all means give me the name of his Dr! I guess the shell of Hawes was our best option! Can't wait to see the same team struggle to make the playoffs add the fact that are rookies will be abused by their coach! Generals sounds better!— Sam 52
- Given the Sixers cap situation and the dreck that is out there this year, resigning Hawes is an ok option. And the fact that it's only a two year contract is great. Like I said last night, Billy King or Stiffanski resigns Hawes for 5 years 50 million. Next year when there is a crop of good free agents, the Sixers will be in much better shape to get better. And by not amnestying (is that a word?) Brand, he's a great chip for a sign and trade this year if good players are available.— mjc1
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.
