Multiple reports have indicated Lou Williams will be opting out of the final year of his contract with the 76ers, though not necessarily to leave Philadelphia. Williams himself seemed to be laying the groundwork for such a decision yesterday, tweeting "Quick note. Opting out doesn't necessarily mean you're leaving. It's getting out of one contract to begin a new one." The Sixers will be faced with a number of free agent decisions besides Williams this summer, and Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News has updates on a few of those players and on the executives that will be making the roster moves….
- Williams and unrestricted free agent Spencer Hawes are both drawing interest from teams around the league and could command annual salaries of $7MM in free agency, says Cooney.
- The Sixers would like to keep Lavoy Allen, but Jodie Meeks, Sam Young, Tony Battie, and Craig Brackins will "almost certainly" not be returning to the team.
- The 76ers are currently interviewing potential replacements for president of basketball operations Rod Thorn, according to Cooney. Philadelphia has received permission to talk with a handful of execs around the league, and been turned down by a few others.
- Among the candidates to replace Thorn: the Spurs' Danny Ferry and Dennis Lindsey, Rick Sund of the Hawks, Troy Weaver of the Thunder, John Hammond of the Bucks, and former Hornets GM Jeff Bower.
- Thorn won't necessarily be replaced in the near future. He is entering the final year of his contract, and the process of finding and bringing in his replacement could take the entire year. According to Cooney's source, the team isn't trying to remove Thorn from his position, but is merely starting a process that could take a while to complete.
- According to Cooney, the Sixers had a potential deal involving Andre Iguodala in place a year ago, but ownership vetoed any move.
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whoever gives haws more than one dollar clearly doesn’t want to win