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.