Shortly after reportedly declining a $3.9M per season deal, the Sixers stepped up to the plate and signed Louis Williams to a 5-year contract.
The 76ers agreed to terms today with restricted free agent guard Louis Williams on a 5-year contract. – Philly.com
Philly.com is not reporting any terms of the contract, but I just saw Derrick Gunn on Comcast SportsNite say the deal is reportedly worth $25 million over the 5 years.
So it looks like the negotiations are picking up at a rapid pace now. Sixers made an initial offer, Louis and his agent pushed back, and they agreed shortly after. Very good to see this. All along I have expected Sweet Lou to get signed before Andre Iguodala because the money is bigger with Iguodala.
If Derrick Gunn is right about the monetary value of the contract, are you cool with Lou getting an average of $5 million per season? I am! He is as good as Chris Duhon (better than Duhon really) and Sasha Vujacic, which likely were the comparables Merle Scott, Williams’ agent, was using to get this deal done.
No all that’s left is signing Iguodala, and we can all start committing to partial and season tickets.
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ll take it. Wonder if it is flat, front loaded, or normal. I would think it is a player option on the last year if it is normal.
Glad they got it done. If he becomes a starting point guard in the next 2-3 years he will be underpaid.
Great news! Thanks for the head’s up on my site Dannie.
I’ll take 5 yrs/25 mill any day, especially with a 21 year-old Lou who’s only 21 and getting better.
Ed for EOTY!
Let’s review: 171 games, 15:48 minutes, 7.2 points, 1.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.1 turnovers, 42.9% field goal shooting, 34.7% 3-point shooting, 75.7% foul shooting…25 MILLION DOLLARS FOR 5 YEARS!!!!! INSANITY! Nice going, Ed. He, a pro basketball rube, got the contract and we, the paying public, got the shaft. Reminds me of the country song, “I Gave Her The Ring And She Gave Me The Finger”–maybe DJ LouWill can spin that record at post-game parties without turnin’ it over. Average player (to date), superlative bucks.
jjg- you forgot that he’s 21 and came straight out of high school, where he was the Naismith high school player of the year. he was also the only sixer last year to shoot above the league average from 3-pt territory.
i love the signing. 5 mil is the upper ceiling of where I expected these contract talks to go, but I still expect Lou to progress enough that in hindsight, it looks like a bargain.
Jumpin, Overpaying slightly is the norm until we become a consistant winner; Love his poise and ability to get his own shot and have a feeling, like Bobby Jones, he will be one of the finishing five when games mean the most. Your S.Threat comparison earlier this summer was a good one and in the “no handchecking” N.B.A. he could be a 20 p.p.g. player down the road.
Noah, Didn’t forget that he’ll be 22 at end of Oct. Nor did I forget that he’s basically an AAU kid with an AAU game – and fans pay primo prices to cover such excessive contracts. Regarding your stat mention, shooting above league average from 3-pt. land includes all players regardless of position, thus, that standing as a shooting guard is not exactly a feather in the cap. The kid’s got some offensive talent, but hasn’t come close to earning what’s been reported. Will he grow into substantiating the contract? I doubt it, but your guess is as good as mine.
suede, You soften my stance with the mention of Bobby and Sedale, but only momentarily. IF Williams ever averages 20, it’ll be a soft 20–everyday points, not Gus Williams ‘79 Sonics points. Just my opinion – a scorer, without teeth.
Jumpin, if Ginobli was a free agent we would have to give him 15 mill. per as a minimum offer, yet he plays for 10 mill. per, same with Rip, who at 11.5 now, would probably cost us 14 mill. minimum. I!m curious to here what value L.Will. has in your eyes; I personally feel he is worth 3.5 to 4 but as in the Ginobli and Hamilton cases we have to give a little more to make it work. In some cases bench players are like a starter, last year he got 24 minutes a game, I would be shocked if its not at least 28 minutes this year, which is pretty close to starters minutes plus Thad, as a 19 year old got 1.8 mill. in his rookie year. Anybody know what the microwave got in his prime years compared to the starters, that could be a good comparison.
If these numbers are correct (5 years, $25 million), here are some of the guards around the league make that much or more: Speedy Claxton, Matt Carroll, Eric Snow, Bobby Jackson, Marquis Daniels, Jamaal Tinsley, Cuttino Mobley, Marko Jaric, Mike James, Morris Peterson, Jerome James, Raja Bell, John Salmons, Luke Ridnour, Earl Watson, Antonio Daniels.
5 million dollars doesn’t go as far as it used to in professional sports. Still, if age wasn’t a factor, I would take Lou over any of those guys right now. My point is, if Lou remains a solid 6th man for the next 5 years, we’re getting a good deal. If he becomes our starting point guard? It’s a steal.
I think the ideal scenario was a 4 year, 4 million per year contract, but I don’t see how anyone can argue with the $5 million per.
I agree with what Noah said, it’s a win win for us…if he becomes our future starting PG (which I sincerely doubt, as I don’t think he has the PG genes for it), he will be underpaid in a few years. If he remains our 6th man scoring burst of energy off the bench (what I see as his ideal role), we’ll be paying him exactly what a top 6th man combo guard should be earning.
Now let’s go get Iggy wrapped up at $11-12 per and get this show rolling!
I like the deal, and I guess I’ll put my thoughts this way:
5 mil may be overpaying for the first year of the contract, but I’m hoping that by his third or fourth, 5 mil will be a crazy bargain for this guy.
i still think its fair cos at worst he will earn this contract in a yr or so of development. if he’s better then its a bargain. hmm evans’ contract just grew a lil bigger. hold your breath reggie fans….
Noah brings up a great point. Look at those guys getting the same amount of money! I would probably rather have a couple of those veterans over Lou as of right now, but if you ask me in a couple years, I bet we all would take Lou. Lou plays the role of Leo Barbosa on our team and Barbosa gets paid in the 6-7 mill range. Plus, Lou’s upside is ridiculous. He’d get paid a lot less if he was 28 instead of 21.
When you question the signing, all you gotta do is think of the 5 mill per the Knicks just gave Chris Duhon.
Lou>Duhon
jjg –
Look at it this way, Brand under contract for 5yrs, Sammy 3 yrs, Thad 4yrs, Speights 5yrs, Lou Will 5yrs.
With the exceptions of Iggy and Miller the core is locked up for the next 3 seasons, priceless!!
jjg – I am assuming you believe Duhon, Vujcic and Udrih were overpaid as well, right?
I like Louis Williams over all those players considering his age, the time this organization has already put in him, maintaining the chemistry that we’ve started to develop with these young guys, the production he has put up as a less herald player out of high school and my opinion of how he will continue to develop.
$5M was on the high end of my scale, but certainly not a “I want to back slap the ish” out of Billy King type deal.
Greetings from Greece. 5 years for 25 million is a steal for us!
With a lot of players getting overpaid, $5 million a year for five isn’t all that bad for Lou, who’s got a lot more potential than some of these other bums. My comparable was Daniel Gibson, at 4.2 million per year, but in all honesty…it’s beginning to look like he got fleeced.
It’s a good deal for both parties. Hopefully L Will can continue to improve and if so the Sixers got a great deal. If he levels off then it’s an average deal.
Only one more thing to do on the offseason checklist. Assuming that one gets done too the Sixers are starting to look pretty deep on the bench. They will have guys who played lots of minutes last year competing for few minutes this year. Mainly Reggie and Willie.
@Duke
I agree his deal looks bad compared to others. Probably because the Cavs have a reputation of Low Balling players and being cheap.
The Duke, …and I’m heading to Pfizer and Merck personnel today with my agent who will be power pointing to my potential to cure the common cold, based on my having passed high school chemistry…
that’s nothing to sneeze about; now “SHOW ME THE MONEY!”
A Lou Williams’ analogue is Eric Money of U. Of Arizona, Pistons and Sixers in 70s. 6′, 170; was quick, ok shooter, could penetrate and score, and dish. Couldn’t guard a lick. Left college early. Had some initial success, but was out of NBA at 25. His UA backcourt mate (and Sixer draftee) was Coniel “Popcorn” Norman, a fine outside shooter in college, who also couldn’t guard anybody at pro level. I don’t see Williams’ dropping off the map like Money did, but there’s definitely some similarities in court style.
I think if Lou doesn’t improve, which is borderline impossible, he will be payed on par with his production. He is a fine player who can put the ball on the floor, put the ball in the hoop, pass a little, and would be at least an average starting PG in terms of defensive play.
I see no downside to this deal. Mo Williams’ 8.5 million dollar contract isn’t really criticized too much. Lou’s contract year surpassed Mo’s in production(per 36 minutes), while being 3 years younger and a better defender.
@Dannie/anyone who knows
Can I use html in my posts so I don’t have such an ugly url? I don’t want to type out the html then have it appear as regular text…
re #22: delete possessive apostrophe – “Williams” (line 7)
jjg and all – haha you guys are so anal with your posting. I will try and find a plug-in that allows you to edit your comments for a period of time after you post it so you can fix any typos you want.
Dannie, That plug-in would be greatly appreciated. Neatness counts. Ask dapper Chuck Daly…then compare his career path to Rollie Massimino.
Joe – I will fix the url and yes, you can use HTML in the comment section.
Dannie – WE ARE ANAL, sorry for yelling, back to the topic, 5M is on point, besides it’s not our money. Did I use too many commas?
@dre
I think you need a semicolon to salvage that sentence. Maybe an ellipsis or 2…