Sixers sign Shawn Long to mysterious, undisclosed deal

Fresh off the end of his second 10-day contract, the Sixers made the decision to sign Shawn Long to a big-boy contract. For some reason, the Sixers also decided to act as though the deal was shrouded in mystery.

Here’s the opening paragraph from the team’s official press release on the matter:

The Philadelphia 76ers today announced that the team has signed forward-center Shawn Long. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Framing the press release this way is sort of odd. They did the same thing for Chasson Randle, Gerald Henderson, Jerryd Bayless and Sergio Rodriguez, for reasons that aren’t immediately clear. Including that specific phrase — “Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed” — appears to be an addition from the new regime.

The Sixers did not tend to state specifics of contracts in press releases for signings in years past. As just a few examples, deals for players such as Pierre Jackson, Elton Brand and Kendall Marshall did not include information on the money or years, but did not feel the need to state it was team policy to withhold that information. The release for Christian Wood — who signed a contract with the team the day after Sam Hinkie’s resignation — included the explanation that Wood’s contract would last the rest of the season.

Why they feel the need to do this is a mystery, particularly because the information gets out there anyway. Keith Pompey has reported on the specifics of the deal:

This is all probably more interesting to me than it is to you, but my biggest concern with Shawn Long is that he keeps himself away from the feet of Ben Simmons. He has been fine so far for what he is, but he’s a non-factor on a healthy and (hopefully) normal Sixers team in the future.

Per blog policy, the amount of time I spent looking at press releases just now will be undisclosed.