The 76ers will head into the offseason with two players holding early termination options on their contracts. Elton Brand, who's in line to earn $18MM+ next season, is highly unlikely to give up the final year of his deal, but Louis Williams is a different story. Williams, a candidate for Sixth Man of the Year, is due about $5.35MM in 2012/13 if he doesn't opt out of his deal, and spoke to Dennis Deitch of The Times Herald about his options.
"I obviously have the option to opt out, but I still have a year there, so I haven’t really thought about it," Williams said. "I’ve just been trying to play well, then in the summertime we can let the business side take care of itself."
Agent Leon Rose and the Sixers had brief discussions prior to the season about an extension for Williams, but tabled those talks until season's end. The 25-year-old sounds as if he's very open to revisiting the topic in the summer.
"I consider Philly my second home," Williams said. "I’m comfortable here, I enjoy the direction the team is growing in, so it’s not really a situation where some guys can’t wait to get out of their contracts. There’s an opportunity there to extend the contract or go somewhere else, but we haven’t really thought about it. I’m happy here and plan on being here."
I'd be a little surprised if Williams waived his ETO and played out his final season. He should be able to negotiate a multiyear contract this summer, with Deitch pointing to Sixers teammate Thaddeus Young and fellow sixth man Jason Terry as potential comparables for a long-term deal.
BOSS isn’t going anywhere, the sixers will never let him leave