Lou Will Signed

[Derek Bodner]

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20080731_Sixers__Williams_agree_on_5-year_deal.html

5 years, amount not yet released.

[anklebreaker]

Just heard that on CSN.  One down, one to go. 

[jemagee]

hopefully still close to the MLE base

[tk76-]

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20080731_Sixers__Williams_agree_on_5-year_deal.html

5 years, amount not yet released.

I'm glad your 3 years info turned out to be wrong (but I do appreciate the inside info.) 

I think the 3r-5th years have a potential to be real bargains, and would not be surprised to see him have a player option in the 5th year (and get extended before he can exercise it.)

GREAT news!

I hope this means they are close on Iguodala, becasue it might be hard to frontload Lou without knowing the basic parameters for Andre.

[Derek Bodner]

I'm glad your 3 years info turned out to be wrong (but I do appreciate the inside info.) 

Depends on the figure.  If it's the same general area (although the average amount will be slightly higher, since it's 5 years of increases rather than 3), then I don't have a problem with 5 years.

I guess the extra 2 years was the final compromise that had to be made.  Makes me feel confident in the source, since they were apparently close to a deal when I was told they were.

[tk76-]

I guess the extra 2 years was the final compromise that had to be made.  Makes me feel confident in the source, since they were apparently close to a deal when I was told they were.

Based on your draft night work, I think I can narrow down who your source is, and I presume they should have reliable info.  It's good to get some insight, even if we are getting it here 3rd hand. 

[Derek Bodner]

Actually, you probably can't

(but what info I do get I only get because they know him, so in a way, he is indirectly my source).

Here's what I was originally told:
$4,500,000
$4,972,500
$5,445,000

So hopefully it's just an extension of that:
$4,500,000
$4,972,500
$5,445,000
$5,917,500
$6,390,000

5 year, $27 mil sounds good to me.

[jemagee]

Considering what monta ellis gets it's a friggin steal possibly

[Skates]

And then there was one.

Good news about Lou.  The five years could be a blessing or a curse, but at his age and development it should be a good deal.

[tk76-]

Sounds fair.  It's more than 1M/year than Gibson is getting.

Unless they are really penny pinching, I can't see why they wouldn't heavily frontload the deal.  They are far from the tax, and its a legal way to subvert the cap down the road.

[tk76-]

And then there was one.

Good news about Lou.  The five years could be a blessing or a curse

I never got this line of thought.  Worse case, is he overpaid year 4-5 as a below MLE bench scorer/back-up PG.  Those are roles that every team needs, and I doubt he becomes a WG where the team has better/cheap option at back-pg/scoring guard on the roster.

[Derek Bodner]

csn just reported it as a 5/25 deal.  So I was told it was close to being done at 3 years at 5 mil per, it ended up happening 4 days later at 5 years at 5 million per.  I actually like the 5 year deal better.

[tk76-]

[Derek Bodner]

If I had to guess, it was lou pushing for the 3 year deal, and they compromised on a 4 year deal with a player option on the 5th.  That's only a guess though, no source.  I'll see if i can bark up a tree to get the details.

[rickortreat]

This is great.  Ed Stefanski has done a fantastic job this offseason, and getting Lou signed to a 5 year deal is another great move.

Lou has enormous potential as a player, this upcoming season should be a break-out year for him. I think he'll see a lot of minutes at the point, and with the players around him, he should be quite effective in that role. 

Players typically peak in their abilities somewhere between the 6th and 8th seasons.  Players who come out of high school like Lou can have exceptional careers with a longer duration of peak years. A five year contract means the Sixers will now have Lou for his best years in the NBA.

I think by the end of the contact, this one will look like a steal for what Lou will contribute.

Any news on Andre's contract?