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Don't let the thought of another year of awful basketball fool you, the Sixers are ready to get out and spend in free agency. Sort of. Not really though. After expressing interest in Avery Bradley and then Kent Bazemore, Philadelphia has now turned their attention to a different guard with a little less tread on his tires.
Eurobasket.com correspondent David Pick reports that the Sixers have extended an offer to Keith Langford, most recently with Italian club Emporio Armani Milano.
Prolific Euro-scorer Keith Langford, I've learned, evaluating minimum offer from Philadelphia 76ers and Russian club Kazan.
— David Pick (@IAmDPick) July 4, 2014
Because he played one year in the NBA (two games with the San Antonio Spurs in 2007), a minimum level contract would be worth $816,482.
Langford played his college basketball at the University of Kansas, then bounced around the D-League and half a season in Italy before a quick stop with the Spurs. He then bounced around two more Italian teams in 2008-2009, and was named EuroChallenge Final Four MVP at the end of the season as he led Virtus Bologna to a title. After a two year stint in Russia, Langford took Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv to the Adriatic League Final Four, where he was named MVP.
He spent the last to seasons in Milan, and in 2014 was the Euroleague's top scorer, averaging 17.6 points per game.
Watching Langford on tape, the lefty has a real sweet jump shot. He can play both the point and shooting guard spots, and showed he's capable of spotting up and knocking down a trey in catch and shoot situations. Last season he shot 43.3% from the floor, and 36.4% from beyond the arc. Considering Philadelphia already has three point guards on the roster they are expected to keep (Michael Carter-Williams, Tony Wroten, and Pierre Jackson), I would anticipate that the Sixers wanted him to play two guard.
Sportando reports that Unics Kazan is the frontrunner for his services, and it's no skin off my back. If Philadelphia is going to be nearly as non-competitive as they were last year, they might as well use this year to continue to make something out of the young and raw talent around the league (see: Thompson, Hollis).
At age 30, Langford doesn't really fit the bill.
UPDATE: Never mind!
Keith Langford signed a two-year contract with UNICS Kazan, source told Sportando.
— Enea Trapani (@ETSportando) July 4, 2014