Lou Williams opting out of his contract for a better one with the Philadelphia 76ers - NBA Update
Lou Williams, the Philadelphia 76ers guard, has said that he will practice the players’ option on his contract, but that will not mean that he will leave the franchise. Rather, he will do that in order to get a better contract.
In an interview session with John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the 25-year old guard said that he will not be leaving Philly as he had worked hard and long to carve out a niche with Sixers.
“At this point I just think it would be crazy for me to leave,” Williams said to John Mitchell. “This is somewhere where I have carved out a lane. This is somewhere where my family is and it’s my second home outside of Atlanta”.
Williams will opt for his player’s option in July and will look for a bigger contract, much on the same lines as that of Thaddeus Young.
“But business is business,” Williams said to John Mitchell during the same session. “Once it comes time to deal with that we’ll get to the table.”
Williams had a very good last season. He averaged 14.9 points, 3.5 assists and 2.4 boards in the regular season games finishing it as the second best Sixth Man of the Year behind James Harden. Then, in the 13 postseason games, he averaged 11.5 points, 3.0 assists and 2.1 rebounds before Philadelphia finally bowed out in game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics.
The decision by Williams has put the franchise in spot of bother. They already have Jodie Meeks and Lavoy Allen as restricted free agents and Spencer Hawes is a free agent. The franchise owes $55.95 million in the form of salary commitments next seasons and nearly 18.6 million dollar of it will go veteran Elton Brand. To accommodate for the younger players and Hawes, who will be a valuable asset on the market, the Sixers might want to amnesty Brand.
They can also place Andre Iguodala on the trade window and in return get the necessitated cap space. But then again with the departure of AI will mean the departure of an All-Star calibre player and the team leader.
As of now though, Williams is holding all the cards and the Phillies will have to work out something quickly.
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