Only an hour after they were "nearing a deal", Kate Fagan reports that the Sixers and Thaddeus Young have officially come to terms on a contract to keep the forward from Georgia Tech in Philadelphia for the next few years. Here's the official tweet from Woj.
Thaddeus Young is nearing agreement on a 5 year, $42 million contract to stay with the 76ers, league sources tell Y! Sports.
OK, so just over $8 million per season. NOT BAD. It's not exactly ideal, but it locks up a guy who could turn into something for not the most money in the world. I would even go so far as to say this is a fair deal. But again, this all depends on what kind of player he becomes, not the player he is right now.
This comes on the heels of a number of contracts being divvied out to anyone that can palm a basketball. Thaddeus, as we all know, has his strengths and weaknesses. The question is: will he be able to overcome those crucial weaknesses to be come a complete basketball player. If he never develops a reliable jump shot, this fails. If he doesn't become a capable ball-handler, this fails.
Where this leaves Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner, I'm not sure. I just know that Doug Collins loves him some Thad and Thad loves him some Doug. So they'll be hanging out for the next five years and 42 million dollars while we all hope Dwight Howard becomes a huge Fresh Prince of Bel Air fan.
Free agency rolls on. Your thoughts below.
Update: Kate Fagan reporting it's $43 million. It doesn't matter too much - what's another million here and there, right?!