Thaddeus Young: Sixers Need to Match an Offer

by Michael Levin on Jun 23, 2011 5:29 AM PDT in Philadelphia 76ers News

Riding the coattails of all the Andre Iguodala rumors has been Thaddeus Young and his lack of a contract for next season. The Sixers gave him a Qualifying Offer, which allows them to have final say for any deal he gets offered by a team out on the free agent market. On ESPN the Fanatic 97.5, Thad told Harry Mayes and Brian Baldinger that while he loved his time in Philadelphia and would like to stay here, there won't be any home town discount coming Thorn's way.

If I get a better offer from another team, the Sixers will either have to match or come better. That’s the only way it’ll work out.

This isn't too surprising because of how cutthroat the free agent market is/has been for everyone in sports. You hear "it's a business, it's a business, it's a business" so it's natural that Thad is saying he wants his money.

But with Andre close to being dealt, the new ownership coming in with possibly light pockets, and the CBA completely up in the air for next season, Thad may not be as much of a lock to sign as we had thought when the season ended. He's a great kid and should keep improving under the guidance of Doug Collins, but has Derek said in our recently awesome podcast, "is Doug gonna teach him how to box out?" If he doesn't become an above-average rebounder and defender, he'll never be a starter on a good team and will not be worth the highly inflated contract someone is bound to offer him.

With the draft a few hours away, I hope Thorn and Stefanski are thinking that next season is a Thad-free one. Let the man walk.

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the new ownership coming in with possibly light pockets

Is this an assumption or something based on knowledge of the new owners? Just curious.

As for Thad, I love the guy, in fact he is one of my favorite Sixers of all time, crazy I know. I just love his attitude and energy. That said, if someone offers him a ridiculous contract, and I am sure someone will then the Sixers are better off letting him walk. He isn’t a franchise player, not unless, as Derek said, he improves his defense and rebounding, which I don’t think will happen, so that said, he doesn’t deserve franchise money.

We have Jrue and Evan, let’s build around them.

"You can commit no mistake and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." - Jean-Luc Picard

by EREX21 on Jun 23, 2011 6:16 AM PDT reply actions

Well he’s a leverage buyout specialist so people are making educated assumptions.

Liberty Ballers / Ridiculous Upside / Twitter

The Artist Formerly Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Michael Bourn

by Michael Levin on Jun 23, 2011 7:09 AM PDT up reply actions

He as in Joshua Harris.

Liberty Ballers / Ridiculous Upside / Twitter

The Artist Formerly Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Michael Bourn

by Michael Levin on Jun 23, 2011 7:09 AM PDT up reply actions

Thanks. Like I said, I was just curious.

"You can commit no mistake and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." - Jean-Luc Picard

by EREX21 on Jun 23, 2011 7:13 AM PDT up reply actions

The thing that people are missing about Harris...

…is that if he were really so worried about not spending money, he wouldn’t bother buying a basketball team. There’s a better than even chance he’s buying this to indulge his ego. In which case, he might actually spend money.

I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, there will be no trade for Monta!

by dweebowitz on Jun 23, 2011 7:21 AM PDT reply actions

This.

I’m thinking that he actually does have an interest in this team and wants it to succeed because there are plenty of other things he could be investing money in. A basketball team is a huge commitment, and it takes a lot of time and effort to do it right. Hopefully the guy wants championships, not just money.

formerly jdcvr6

"When I'm dead and buried, and my time here has passed. I want them to bury me upside down, so my critics can kiss my ass." - Bob Knight

by James_C on Jun 23, 2011 7:28 AM PDT up reply actions

Wouldn’t that be the case for all owners then?

Liberty Ballers / Ridiculous Upside / Twitter

The Artist Formerly Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Michael Bourn

by Michael Levin on Jun 23, 2011 7:34 AM PDT up reply actions

I would say that it’s true for all owners who would be buying a team right now in this horrible economy. I haven’t figured Sterling out yet, but somehow the guy makes money.

Why blow the money in this crappy economy if you don’t want to 1) stroke the crap out of your ego, and 2) maximize the value of the property? While I’ve never personally worked with this particular guy, I’ve spent my whole career dealing with people exactly like him. This is what I do for a living (and why I had my first heart attack at 46). I know two things that are universal about them:

1: They all have humungous egos.
2: They all know what things are worth.

Leaving #1 aside, because it’s a given, a basketball team is only valuable if it’s either winning or a nationally iconic franchise (basically, the Celtics or Lakers). You don’t increase the value of the franchise by taking a mediocre team and making it suck. You can’t strip and flip a basketball team, because by getting rid of all the good players and replacing them with cheap players who suck, you are actually reducing the value of the team. I promise you he’s not in the business of making the team worth less.

The Billy Beane approach doesn’t work in basketball, where talent rules. In baseball, you can win a lot of games playing smallball with guys who walk and hit singles and pitchers who throw a lot of grounders. And way too many high draft picks (and there are only two rounds) don’t really pan out to depend on the guys on rookie contracts.

Now, I do think he’ll spend money intelligently. I think you will definitely see the end of the Sammy D and Kenny Thomas-type contracts for guys who aren’t worth it (sorry, Thad, I’m gonna miss you). But I also think he will make smart investments that will increase the value of the team (and help the team win).

I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, there will be no trade for Monta!

by dweebowitz on Jun 23, 2011 8:44 AM PDT up reply actions

Why is everyone so certain that Thad will get a “highly inflated” contract? With the cap number expected to shrink dramatically, and players unable to sign until the new CBA is ratified, I’m not so sure that will happen. Of the teams that have cap space, I think the Nyets are the most likely to blow him away with a deal, but they already way overpaid for a bench 3 in Travis Outlaw last year; think they’ll do it again?

by The Crooked Man on Jun 23, 2011 7:25 AM PDT reply actions