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.”
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- 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
- 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
- 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 - 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 - 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
- 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
- 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
- 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 - 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
- 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
- The Tonner's a prolific scorer and has been know to go strong to the hoop.— hunglikeaton
- A lot of moving parts for the 76er's! Best wishes making it all work...— highfive
- 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
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.
