Sixers Amnesty Elton Brand, Sign Nick Young, and Two Minority Owners are Buying an MLS Club
Basketball news on this sunny and hot Friday afternoon.
Yahoo! is killing it today. They report that the Sixers will amnesty Elton Brand, meaning the $18 million he was owed this season will come off the salary cap and that Brand will be placed on the so-called Amnesty Wire (which sounds like something a sovereign nation would setup to transfer aid to Western journalists reporting in dangerous countries– but really it’s just a waiver wire), where other teams can bid for his services. Assuming Brand is picked up, the Sixers will still have to pay him the difference between the winning bid and $18 million (or, all $18 million if he doesn’t find a new home).
Clearing Brand's insane contract off the books will give the Sixers financial freedom to sign players such as…
… free agent Nick Young to a one-year, $6 million deal, according to Yahoo! (!!!).
Young, 27, averaged over 14 points with the Clippers and Wizards last year. He’s an outside scorer who is a better defender than Lou Williams.
CBS Sports’ Matt Moore likes the move:
This is a sweetheart deal for the Sixers. They get a bench scorer with considerably more scoring potential than last year's bench scorer Lou Williams to hit shots, and Young's a superior defender. Young is 27, but likely still has several good years in front of him. He's a versatile scorer who can get up and out in transition and on several nigts will light up the scoreboard.
This is a great move by Philadelphia, assuming the don't re-sign Lou Williams to a long-term deal. This gives them flexibility and allows them to fill their bench scoring position.
Plus, you know, swag.
But I prefer former-team fan reaction. And the immediate response from some D.C. followers was a sarcastic "enjoy." That’s not a good sign.
As Dei Lynam points out, the Sixers had to amnesty Brand to sign Young. That’s great and all, but let’s cross our fingers that there’s a lot more to come.
…
In other Sixers news, minority owners Jason Levien and Erick Thohir (who, according to Wikipedia, was born in either 1969 or 1970) are going to buy D.C. United of the MLS.